Let's Play Doctor
by evilsugarnazioverlord
Summary: LAWxOC. Yumei, a dancer running from the men that her boss sold her to, hides on the first ship she sees—too bad it's the Pirate ship of the notorious "Surgeon of Death." What will she do when she realizes that he is a doctor, something she fears most?
1. Chapter 1

**[Let's Play Doctor]**

Summary: LAW X OC. Yumei, a dancer running from the men that her boss sold her to, hides on the first ship she sees—too bad it's the Pirate ship of Trafalgar Law, the notorious "Surgeon of Death." What will she do when she realizes that he is a doctor, something she fears the most?

Genre: Romance

Rating: M

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, only my OCs

**CHAPTER 1 **

For Yumei, it was going to be just another boring day—get up, go to work, and then go home. Not that she minded boring, she actually liked it that way, but her existence was a lonely one. She didn't have anyone close to her because she was terrified to think of what the consequences would be if someone were to ever find out her secret.

Yumei currently resided and worked on a quaint little island located somewhere in the North Blue. The young woman strolled into the exotic restaurant where she worked in the mid-afternoon with a smile on her face. She loved going to work, although it never felt like work to her. She got to do what she loved most—dancing and that was really all she thought she needed. Dancing made all of the hurt and betrayal she felt slip away, if only for a short time.

Every few weeks the theme of the restaurant would change on the whim of the owner. The restaurant always had a plethora of customers because of the constant curiosity on what tribe or culture the owner would next decide to feature. Noticing that the restaurant was already beginning to fill up with the people eager to find out what the new theme was, Yumei waved to the owner as she strode to the dressing room to change.

Quickly, she changed into her dancing outfit that consisted of a black bra top adorned with bronzed colored coins and a few red jewels that lined the edges. Her burgundy colored satin harem pants were complimented by a bronze adorned waist belt that was fringed with a few short strings of thin red beads and bronze coins. After checking the side bun that she had half of her long, light brown hair pinned up in, Yumei slipped on numerous bronze bangles on one wrist, a thick bronze wrist cuff on her other. A bronze coil fringe necklace and a thin cuff around each bicep followed. Checking her appearance one last time, she slipped on her matching half-length sleeveless burgundy vest that covered the nasty scar on her upper back and smoothed her bangs before putting on some large hoop earrings. Taking a deep breath, the young woman grabbed her fans and padded barefoot to wait behind the curtain on the small, slightly upraised stage for the music to start.

Trafalgar Law sauntered into the restaurant where his crew was waiting for him with his nodachi in tow. He made his way to the table where Penguin and Shachi bickered over something trivial while Bepo quietly observed. "Captain!" Shachi exclaimed, "You're just in time! The dancing is about to start!" Law gave him a droll stare as he sat down.

The room quieted as an upbeat exotic tune began to play while the black curtains on the small stage on the far side of the room parted to reveal a busty young woman with long brown hair dressed in tribal belly dancing garb. Penguin and Shachi stared in awe when the young woman began her routine. "She is so…" Penguin began.

"Sexy," Shachi finished. Even Law had to admit that she was rather attractive.

"Do they have any female dancing bears?" Bepo suddenly asked.

"Yeah right!" Shachi and Penguin simultaneously yelled at him.

"I'm sorry." Bepo dropped his head and sullenly replied. The two sweat-dropped at the bear's typical response.

Fluidly dancing off of the stage and into the audience, she undulated past him with a seductive smile on her face. With every shiver, shimmy, and hip hit she did to the music, he became more entranced by the voluptuous dancer. He could just imagine her doing that under him as he sated the both of them.

As the music ended, the dancer danced back to the stage before disappearing behind a curtain. It was then, after his trance was broken, that Law noticed the suspicious looking men making their way over to the curtains where the dancer had just been. Shrugging it off, he turned to the food and ale that had just been delivered to the table. "This is good stuff," said Shachi as he shoveled food into his mouth.

A loud male shriek could be heard throughout the restaurant originating from the vicinity of the stage. Everyone in the room turned to see what the commotion was. The dancer was roughly steered from behind the curtain by a large man who was followed by a perturbed man holding his bleeding nose. "Let me go!" The dancer yelled as she tried to jerk her arm from the man detaining her. "That's not gonna happen, miss. Why don't you make it easier for the both of us and stop struggling."

"Just knock the bitch out," his counterpart bit out.

"We can't be damaging the boss' property," The larger man replied. Before the other man could retort, the young woman kneed her captor in a most sensitive area and made a run for it. Before she could get far, a third man stopped her. "We can't be lettin' ya get away now, missy."

"What's the meaning of this?" She asked while backing away.

"Well, now why don't you ask your boss?"

She glanced towards the owner, who refused to look at her.

"I had to, they said that they would kill me if I didn't sell you to them," he looked at her. The man didn't look particularly guilty.

"You sold me." Yumei said in a deadly calm voice. She wasn't going to grace her now _former_ boss with an emotional reaction after learning of his betrayal. A betrayal she couldn't really bring herself to feel surprised of; she half expected it. Something like this always happened—it was part of the reason that she had to move so often and why she never let herself have any close relationships. "I am not some object that you can just whore out," she whispered as she narrowly dodged one of her pursuers. Several others came at her, but she lithely danced around them. Yumei evaded yet another man by jumping up onto the table of a patron who appeared to be a polar bear in an orange jumpsuit. Not bothering to think further on the fact that a polar bear was wearing an orange jumpsuit or to notice the other others at the table, she leaped from the table kicking one of her chasers in the face as she did. She didn't look back as she ran from her former workplace.

Yumei suppressed her panic; she should have known that this would happen. The owner was known for his gambling problem and the debts that he acquired from that vice. She sighed and kept running. Something bad always happened when she finally thought that things were going okay. It was times like these that she regretted escaping from the Marines; she was beginning to think that maybe it might have been better if she had just let them execute her, but she hadn't done anything wrong—she had done a public service. She had told the Marines right where to find that wretched _man_,right where to capture one of the most wanted criminals—that so called "doctor," the serial killer Jadon Cyprian. And what had they done? They had locked her up too, to be taken to headquarters and executed. All because a stupid townsperson had told them just who she was. Oh, but she had escaped because she had wanted to live. _To live_… she was alive, sure, and breathing, yes, but was she really _living_? The only time that she ever really felt alive was when she was dancing, but most of the time she felt so… So empty. She didn't really have anywhere she belonged. She didn't have a home because she always had to move because of situations like this. Was she being punished? Wait, of course she was, because after all, _he_ had told her how worthless and revolting she was every chance he could.

She hadn't done anything wrong, well that's not exactly true. She had been born, but it wasn't like that was her fault. She couldn't help that she was the child of that horrific _man_—that man who could no longer be considered human, not after what he had done. Just recalling her dismal life before she turned him in, made her stomach clench, threatening to spill what little contents it held from lunch. She had to stop thinking about him, about her past. She needed to concentrate on escaping. She needed to stay calm.

Yumei wished she could go back to her apartment, but it wasn't safe and she didn't have time. She needed to leave this island before something worse happened. Just as she ducked into an alley to use as a shortcut to the harbor, she was ambushed and thrown harshly against the building. Her teeth rattled as she took in her situation. Four men stood before her with lust in their eyes. "What the boss doesn't know won't hurt him," the man whose nose she had broken earlier breathed.

"But…" One of the other men started.

"No 'buts.' This little bitch needs a lesson in respect. She broke my God damn nose. We don't want her acting like this in front of the boss now, do we?"

"Well no…" He still seemed unsure.

"Good, you understand. Now two of you grab her arms and hold her still." Yumei tried to fight the men, but she was no match against two predators who were much bigger than her.

The thug with the broken nose drew closer to the struggling dancer. "Now, now, don't you worry your pretty little head, I'll be real gentle," the injured man darkly chuckled as he stroked her cheek. Yumei forced herself to calm down. She wouldn't have any hope of escaping if she didn't calm herself. She could do this, she had done it before. Her assaulter felt the tenseness drain from her muscles. "What? You want to play nice now?" She nodded. He smiled and trailed his hand to her neck down to her breast and then to her waist.

Yumei controlled her gag reflex as he roughly smashed his lips against hers. She didn't let herself bite the tongue that invaded her mouth. He cupped her bottom and grinded his erection against her hips and moaned loudly as he thrust against her. Yumei was utterly disgusted, but she did nothing as she waited for her chance to escape. His hands roughly pushed her bra top out of the way before he grabbed one of her nipples and squeezed. Hard. She didn't cry out—it wasn't like anyone would help her anyway. There were no tears—those had dried up long ago.

Yumei waited for the men holding her arms to become vulnerable. She needed them to loosen their grip even if it was just a little or she wouldn't get far. The breaths of the other men quickened with arousal as they watched their grunting associate violate her. What was this, an orgy? Yumei inwardly cringed, men were such pigs. How was overpowering a woman arousing? It sickened her, but the grips of the two men holding her arms slackened and that signaled for her chance. She took it.

Bringing her knee up to the groin of the man dry humping her, he yelped in agony and crumpled to the ground as she twisted herself from the grips of the other men and ran. The young dancer didn't get far, however—she was roughly grabbed from behind and thrown to the ground. Yumei tried to get up, but the man viciously delivered several swift kicks to her ribs. A muffled crack could be heard. She exhaled sharply as the man grabbed her by the hair and pulled her to his eye level, sufficiently lifting her so that her feet no longer touched the ground. This is when she noticed the knife he held in his hand.

"Look here, you worthless whore," he pointedly showed her the knife. The exotic dancer tried to free herself from his firm grip on her hair. "You're coming with us whether you like it or not. I don't want to hurt you, but," he lightly placed the sharp blade against her cheek, drawing blood, "if you insist on being a bad girl I'll have to make you scream." This barely left his lips before she punched him in the throat and ran from the alley. Cocky bastard, like he could make her scream; she'd had things done to her that would make this amateur scared to sleep at night—she knew she still was.

Adjusting her top, Yumei ran through the streets taking as many shortcuts to the harbor as possible while avoiding most of the men trying to catch her. Emerging from yet another alleyway, she was surprised to see that the eastern harbor didn't have as many ships docked there as it usually did. Just her luck. The few ships that were on the harbor were docked on the opposite end. Yumei didn't have the time to run that far, for her pursuers were close on her heels.

Noticing that there was a submarine docked not 100 feet away, she ran for the sub, not having time to be picky about the choice. Quickly, she shut herself inside of it, not bothering to notice the Jolly Roger displayed on the side. Hearing the sound of approaching footsteps from within the sub and knowing that the coast wasn't yet clear outside, Yumei ventured deeper into the machine. The young woman hadn't planned on stowing away on the submarine because, frankly, it wasn't the best thing for her to stow away on. Where would she go if she got caught? Nowhere. On a ship she could just jump overboard, but with a sub, well, her choices were very limited. Good thing she excelled at hiding.

Seeing a door a just down the hallway, Yumei stealthily checked the room for any signs of life before stealing away through the door. After entering the small room, she noticed several barrels set against the wall. Quickly checking the contents of the barrels, Yumei found an empty one and folded herself inside even though her sides ached. Prodding her sides cautiously, she felt at least three fractured ribs. She sighed, why did she want to live again? Oh right, she secretly hoped that there was a better life for her, one where she didn't have to run from prejudice eyes and rapists. Wiping the blood from her cheek, the jaded dancer rested her head on her knees and began to drift off. She knew it wasn't a good idea because she probably had a concussion from being thrown around and there was a chance she could be caught if she wasn't paying attention, but she was just so sleepy.


	2. Chapter 2

**[Let's Play Doctor]**

Summary: LAW X OC. Yumei, a dancer running from the men that her boss sold her to, hides on the first ship she sees—too bad it's the Pirate ship of Trafalgar Law, the notorious "Surgeon of Death." What will she do when she realizes that he is a doctor, something she fears the most?

Genre: Romance

Rating: M

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, only my OCs

**A/N: Hey-o! It's kinda short… but oh well; it was a good place to stop. I posted this on a whim—okay more like a moment of weakness… I'll try to update when I can, but no promises. However, reviews might help my lovely reader. P.S. I really LOVE constructive criticism, but I'll take whatever I can get. Heh, heh. On with the ever short (only 3 pages T^T) chapter 2!**

**CHAPTER 2**

After witnessing the exchange, Trafalgar Law had become even more intrigued by the dancer than he already was. With the way she had calmly and artfully handled her pursuers, it seemed as though she had been in similar situations countless times before. Most of the patrons of the restaurant returned to concentrating on their meals, as the excitement from the recent disturbance lulled.

"Aw, man…" Shachi whined as he and penguin righted the dishes that had gotten knocked over in the commotion. "They chased dancer-chan away…"

"And she was so cute too," Penguin added morosely.

The incessant whining was cut off by the restaurant owner's approach "I am terribly sorry for all of the trouble the little uproar caused you sirs," he began as he rubbed his sweaty palms together in front of him. "Please allow me to make it up to you gentlemen. Anything you order is on the house for today." The owner held what he hoped to be a placatory smile on his face as he tried to reconcile with the recently infamous bounty head who was aptly dubbed the 'The Surgeon of Death' sitting at the table before him. Law just stared at the man and said nothing, to which the establishment's owner took as an agreement. "Ladies," he called to a couple of nearby waitresses. "Please get this table cleaned up for these gentlemen and get them anything they want, on the house." The two women hurried over and began clearing away the mess as the owner bowed and quickly took his leave of the group.

Law had been listening to Shachi and Penguin's failed attempts at flirting with their waitress when the men from earlier re-entered the restaurant. Law smirked as he noticed that they all looked a little worse for wear—one of the men looked extremely pale and was sporting a limp that could only be the result of a devastating blow to a certain sensitive part of the male anatomy, while another was heavily wheezing and looked as though he was about to collapse. The man with the bloodied, broken nose (who was also the one who was limping), headed the group. "Find the girl and that dickless bastard who sold her to us!" He managed to croak out despite the obvious misery caused by his injuries.

_Well_, Law mused to himself, _it seems that this day turned out to be more interesting than I thought it would be._

After the Heart Pirates had more than their fill of free food and drink at the exotic restaurant, they headed back to their submarine. As soon as the crew stepped on deck, Penguin was assaulted by a white and yellow blur. "Ah! Pengi-pi, my love, you have returned!" A childish teen screeched as she glomped the unfortunate Heart Pirate that was wearing a hat that read 'PENGUIN' across the front. She was wearing a baggy black t-shirt and a white jumpsuit similar to his own with the top half tied around her waist.

Penguin shot his captain a look that carried a silent plea as he tried, in vain, to escape the blonde girl's death grip. At first, he thought that all hope was lost when the captain just smirked and began to walk away, but lucky for him, the captain seemed to be feeling merciful today as he addressed the girl when he walked past. "Kiramai, have you finished the repairs?"

The short, blonde mechanic whose long hair always seemed to be tied up on either side of her head in pigtails, turned to answer her captain with a salute, effectively releasing a now relieved Penguin. "Yes sir!" She grinned.

Law nodded at her. "Good, we'll be leaving in the morning then. So that means that if there is anything any of you need before we leave you better get it now, who knows when we'll see land again. Bepo, help me finish putting away the rest of our supplies."

The orange jumpsuit wearing, white bear nodded and followed his captain, but before they could enter the submarine, Kiramai addressed the crew. "Hey, did you guys remember to bring me food?"

_Shit_, Law froze. The whole crew froze. She just stood there with a big grin on her face. Law had forgotten. They all had forgotten. Law could just imagine her temper starting to flare once he told her that they hadn't brought her back any food. He had to do something to prevent her from having an outburst. While her outbursts were highly entertaining when directed at others, they were not when directed at him. It was just that she got this really high-pitched, naggy voice when she was upset and it was just so utterly _annoying_. And then there was the whining… Oh God, the _whining_. He really didn't want to have her whine at him right now… or ever for that matter—he might kill her and killing her would be highly inconvenient, seeing as she was the mechanic for his crew and good mechanics were hard to come by, especially ones that knew how to fix submarines. So the next words that came out of his mouth were the only words he could think of to effectively placate her. These words also effectively horrified a certain member of the crew. "Penguin is going to accompany you to get something to eat." The mechanic cheered with glee in reply and forcibly dragged a reluctant Penguin behind her. Shachi laughed at his misfortune throughout the whole exchange. Apparently, the captain wasn't feeling so merciful today after all. Penguin should have known. The captain was never merciful.


	3. Chapter 3

**[Let's Play Doctor]**

Summary: LAW X OC. Yumei, a dancer running from the men that her boss sold her to, hides on the first ship she sees—too bad it's the Pirate ship of Trafalgar Law, the notorious "Surgeon of Death." What will she do when she realizes that he is a doctor, something she fears the most?

Genre: Romance

Rating: M

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, only my OCs

**CHAPTER 3**

Early the next day, the Heart Pirates set off without incident. It was a beautiful sunny day and it appeared that it would stay that way for some time. However, within the galley of the ship, a storm was brewing. The tension was tangible. Crewmates glanced from one to another, briefly staring each other down. This was the last stand, the final straw. The first to break would be done for. "Is everyone ready?" Shachi looked from one crewmate to another receiving a nod from each man in the circle; this was it.

"ROCK! PAPER! SCISSORS!" Law, Bepo, Penguin, and Shachi all shouted in unison while an irked Kiramai stood as spectator.

Three members of the group collectively sighed—in relief. And then silence ensued as the outcome of the battle was decided. The three who had won, not-so-discreetly scooted away from the table. The loser was left all alone in front of a steaming plate of what Kiramai had claimed to be breakfast. "NO!" cried Shachi dramatically. "Why do I have to be the one to taste the midget's cooki—" He let out a strangled cry as his face collided with the wall.

"Don't call me a midget! And my cooking isn't that bad! It's better than yours at least! So shut up and eat it!" Kiramai screeched at him. She then proceeded to shovel a fork full of her concoction into his gaping mouth as Penguin dramatically bid farwell to his companion.

The crew waited in anticipation to see the result. At first, all seemed fine—aside from the blood gushing from Shachi's head and nose from the recent blow. However, everything changed in a single moment—the moment when the brunette had swallowed that thing their mechanic called 'breakfast.' Shachi went from slightly pale from blood loss to green within seconds. Everyone hastily put even more distance between themselves and Shachi—he looked like he was going to blow. "Oh come on! You are just being overly dramatic!" The petite mechanic proclaimed as his soul left his body. Her unwillingness to back up her words seemed to go unnoticed as Penguin and Bepo ran about the galley in a panic.

"Ah! I think he's going into shock! We have to pump his stomach! We have to pump his stomach!" Penguin yelled. "And we need a first aid kit!"

The captain of the Heart Pirates leisurely watched the scene stretch before him and he just as leisurely walked away from it. _I had better go prepare the sick bay…_

After the chaos breakfast had wrought, yet again, Trafalgar Law decided that the next person he added to the crew would have to be able to cook a decent meal. Law looked down at the papers scattered across his desk. He couldn't concentrate. He was hungry, but no one on the crew could cook anything even halfway edible. The Heart Pirates couldn't go on like this. There was no way that they could make it on the Grand Line without eating proper meals on a daily basis.

The dark haired captain sighed; he would have to settle for running on caffeine for now. He looked into his coffee mug. It was empty. He needed more. Stretching, the doctor stood up and went to pour himself more coffee, only to discover that there wasn't any. Damn. He had already drank a whole pot. He needed to retrieve new barrels of water and coffee ground.

Law nudged the sleeping bear leaning against the wall with his foot before walking towards the door. Bepo blinked a few times after rubbing the sleep from his beady bear eyes as he stood up to follow his captain.

Once in the storeroom with his captain, Bepo tried to recall which of the barrels contained the coffee ground. Taking to sniffing at the barrels so that he could find what his captain was longing for, the white bear soon noticed that the odor in the small room was off. The scent seemed familiar and yet the talking bear could not place what the smell actually was. However, he could detect the faint smell of something he was familiar with intermingled with the other scent—the faint smell of blood.

Bepo stood over a curious smelling barrel that seemed to be the source of the strange, yet familiar odor. While the phrase 'curiosity killed the cat' did briefly cross the bear's mind, the saying was quickly pushed aside because he _obviously_ wasn't a cat and so the phrase _clearly_ didn't apply to him. Cats were stupid anyway. Deciding that he had to find out what exactly the odor was, the Heart Pirate opened the barrel. Disbelief crossed the bear's features when he looked inside. He replaced the lid and quickly glanced around. Was he hallucinating? That seemed to be the only explanation because why would a person be inside of a barrel on their ship?

Opening the barrel once again to recheck the contents, the pirate poked what was definitely not a hallucination and then proceeded to scream. This caught the attention of his captain. "C-Captain! T-there's a person!" Bepo motioned to the open barrel.

"Well, what do we have here?" Leaning over the barrel, the dark haired man got a good look at the person inside. "How interesting…"

Yumei's consciousness returned slowly. Even as she regained most of her senses, she stayed the way she had been while unconscious—her breathing slow and even, eyes shut. It was a habit she had picked up long ago—one that had saved her from harm numerous times before.

Taking in what she could of her current surroundings, the first thing the young woman noticed was that she was no longer in the place she had hidden prior to losing consciousness. The second, that couldn't go unnoticed by the cautious dancer, was the horrible smell, a smell that she remembered all too well from her past, a smell that sent her into an uncontrollable panic—disinfectant.

She had to keep herself calm, if she didn't, it could mean certain death. But she just couldn't. It was that _horrible_ smell. It made her nauseous. Oh God, that _smell_. It brought back so many awful memories. She couldn't take it. She had to get out of here. Snapping her eyes open, Yumei quickly sat up and processed the sight before her. She was in an infirmary. At this realization, her panic fully set in.

Scrambling to get off of the gurney she had found herself sitting on, Yumei fell onto the ground. If she hadn't been in such a panic, she probably would have noticed the protests of her fractured ribs telling her not to move so much, but as it was, the only thing she had on her mind was escape. She needed to get away. Now. She felt like she would die if she didn't.

Not even bothering to stand up, she crawled around the gurney, her breathing labored, while her dilated eyes darted around the room desperately searching for an exit. The dancer's fear mounted when she heard the voice of a man speak to her. "You shouldn't move around so much, miss. You have three fractured ribs and a minor concussion." He moved into her line of vision, crouching before her. The brunette frantically backed away from him. Her back slammed into what she guessed was an operating table as the man stood up and watched her. Using whatever she had backed into for support, which she found to, indeed, be an operating table, Yumei got to her feet.

Not once taking her eyes from the dark-haired man that stood several feet from her, the terrified dancer slowly moved around the operating table so that it was between the two of them. "S-stay away from me!" She asserted weakly. She hated that her voice sounded so pathetic, but she was struggling to catch her breath and her chest hurt. She put more distance between herself and the suspicious man until she realized that she couldn't anymore—the wall was to her back, and to her misfortune, the exit was on the other side of the room.

**A/N: Nma~ A cliffy for you! Can you handle it!**


	4. Chapter 4

**[Let's Play Doctor]**

Summary: LAW X OC. Yumei, a dancer running from the men that her boss sold her to, hides on the first ship she sees—too bad it's the Pirate ship of Trafalgar Law, the notorious "Surgeon of Death." What will she do when she realizes that he is a doctor, something she fears the most?

Genre: Romance

Rating: M

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, only my OCs

**CHAPTER 4**

Law's face became dark. Had she just ordered him to do something? While it was a weak attempt and while she appeared to be completely frightened, it pissed him off. How dare she tell him what to do? He could kill her for such impudence. He took a few steps towards her.

She had her arms wrapped around herself and her eyes squeezed shut. "Please…" He heard her whisper. "Just stay away from me. Please…" She pleaded with him. She was shaking uncontrollably. She was terrified. At first he thought that it might just have been because of him, but he could tell that there was something more to her terror. It wasn't just him. With the way she was behaving, it occurred to him that she was having a severe panic attack. At this realization, Law managed to calm his anger at her demand. This woman was terrified and his petty anger would only make the situation that much worse.

"Miss, you are having a panic attack and are injured. You need to lie down or you could make your condition worse." Telling her this was only a formality, he would make her lie down if she didn't comply.

Yumei's shaking ceased as she heard him speak to her for a second time. He was right, her condition could get worse if she didn't suppress her panic, but she would be dammed if she listened to him. Like she was going to lie down and give him the opportunity to harm her. While it proved to be difficult, she did manage to suppress her panic for the time being and she knew that the only reason she was even able to do so was because of all of the previous practice she had.

Law was almost disturbed at how her disposition had changed so quickly. The young woman didn't show any of the signs of panic that she had just moments before. Her breathing seemed normal and she had stopped shaking. When she opened her eyes, he saw the strength and determination that they held. It was the strangest thing. A very _interesting_ thing. This is when he decided that he definitely wanted to know more about this curious girl.

"Miss, you really should at least sit down." The pirate captain motioned to one of the many places that she could sit. "I am not going to hurt you." _At least not yet_… He added to himself.

Refusing to let her practiced mask falter; Yumei strode to a chair that was further from the suspicious man and closer to the door. She had to tread cautiously in this situation. Watching carefully as he grinned and approached her, the dancer took in his features. Covering his short dark hair was a fuzzy white hat that had light colored spots around the rim. His smoky grey eyes held intelligence within them, an intelligence that she would have to watch out for. He had two small gold hoops in each ear and his goatee made him appear almost sinister, especially with the tribal tattoos marking his tanned forearms and the backs of his hands. She noticed that on the backs of his fingers on his left hand, the letters D, E, T, and H were tattooed. He wore a yellow and black hooded sweatshirt with a weird smiley face on the front that had the sleeves pushed up to his elbows and blue jeans that were covered sporadically in black spots. On his feet, he wore a pair of black boots. He appeared to be very lean and his height, although average for a man, still left him taller than her. If she hadn't been so terrified, she might have found him attractive.

As he continued to advance, her panic began to mount, not that she dared let it show. Her panic was quickly quelled however, when he walked past her and opted to lean against the counter. He studied her for a few moments with his dark eyes before speaking, "What is your name?" The brunette sat in silence. Law did not want to play games. "Look, _miss_, you stowed away on my ship, injured, I might add. I bandaged your ribs. You could at least tell me your name." While he didn't come right out and say so, the way he emphasized 'miss' implied a threat—should she not cooperate.

The young dancer inwardly sighed, she supposed that it wouldn't hurt to tell him that much. "Yumei." She finally answered.

"Just 'Yumei'?"

"Yes." She nodded. She didn't claim _that_ name any more.

"Well, Miss Yumei, like I said before, you have three fractured ribs and a minor concussion. As you can see, I put you in a splint to help support your ribs until they are healed." As he spoke about the splint, Yumei looked down and noticed that he did indeed wrap her ribs up. "You will probably—"

She sighed and cut him off. Oh did sighing hurt. "I already know, you don't have to explain."

The room became silent. Law crossed his arms over his chest and studied the dancer as she studied him. Her long, light brown hair was a mess and she had a few cuts and bruises on her face and arms—ones that he had bandaged, but none of that detracted from her almost ethereal beauty. He should probably check to see if she had done any more damage to herself when she thrashed around. Taking out a penlight from his back pocket, Law made a move to check her pupils. Yumei quickly jumped out of the chair and backed away. "Don't touch me!"

"I need to check the dilation of your pupils, your thrashing around could have made your condition worse." Law stated, becoming annoyed.

"I'm fine. You don't need to check anything." She quickly said, but her vision blurred and she stumbled. Law rushed to her side and grabbed her arm before she could fall. When he touched her, her panic returned.

Law noticed the change as soon as he touched her. Her breathing tripled and she began shaking uncontrollably. "L-L-Let g-go of m-me!" The dancer gasped out.

Law would have been angered about her order, but the girl was obviously already terrified and scaring her more wouldn't give him any satisfaction. "If I let go, you will fall and if you fall and you get hurt, I wouldn't be doing my duty as a doctor." He wasn't sure if it was possible, but the girl became even more frightened, and this time, the fear was definitely directed at him.

**A/N: Oooh! Another cliffy! Don't worry, chapter 5 is in progress. Hopefully I'll have it done soon (but I'm not gonna lie, I'm lazy, I've been in a writing mood though lately so…). I'm thinking it will be considerably longer than this one… probably. Until next time my lovelies! **


	5. Chapter 5

**[Let's Play Doctor]**

Summary: LAW X OC. Yumei, a dancer running from the men that her boss sold her to, hides on the first ship she sees—too bad it's the Pirate ship of Trafalgar Law, the notorious "Surgeon of Death." What will she do when she realizes that he is a doctor, something she fears the most?

Genre: Romance

Rating: M

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, only my OCs

**A/N: I just realized that I really abuse Shachi quite a lot… Oh well, it is entertaining. Maybe I'll give him a break soon… Or not. Enjoy! Fear not! I plan on working on chapter 6 today… even if I should be writing a paper instead… Heh heh. **

**CHAPTER 5**

The word 'doctor' rang throughout Yumei's mind. She realized that, after he had said something, it was quite obvious that he was a doctor. "Y-you're a-a doctor?" She asked him, even though she knew it was the truth.

While her question was rhetorical, Law took the liberty of answering her anyway. "Yes. I am also the captain of the Heart Pirates, Trafalgar Law."

As her vision faded, the name Trafalgar Law ran through her mind... _That explains the symbol on his shirt. It must be his Jolly Roger… Wait... Trafalgar Law... Also known as The Surgeon of Death... _Yumei recalled seeing the name in the paper a few times. She would have panicked more, but she had to get out of this horrible room before the darkness claimed her. She weakly struggled against the pirate captain's hold.

"What are you doing? You're about to pass out..."

"I have to get out of here." The dancer slurred out.

"We are in a submarine under water, you can't just..."

"No. This room. It's bad. I can't stay here. I'll die..." Her body went limp in his arms.

Adjusting his grip on the unconscious woman so that one arm was supporting her back and the other was behind the crook of her knees, Law lifted her into his arms and carried her from the sickbay. He figured that he could at least comply with her request, especially since her fears seemed to revolve around the room and doctors. It was painstakingly obvious now that he thought about all of her actions thus far. Clearly there was a bad experience somewhere in her past; however, since she seemed to be unconscious, he would have to find out about that later. For the time being, he would have to settle for finding his patient a place to sleep.

This time, when she woke up, Yumei immediately opened her eyes. Once again, she was not in the same place she had been when she had passed out. Her head ached a little because of the concussion, but she would take a concussion over the nightmares, the nightmares that were probably prevented because of the head injury.

From the faint light that came from the small lamp on the bedside table, the drowsy young woman was able to take in her new surroundings. The walls and floor were made of dark wood and several bookshelves overflowing with books lined one of the walls. A huge desk sat in the corner on the other side of the room with a map of what appeared to be the North Blue behind it on the wall. Glancing downward, she realized she was on a comfortable king sized bed covered by black sheets and a black comforter. The room didn't have that wretched smell, for that she was grateful, but she was confused as to why she was here.

Pushing the comforter off of herself, Yumei got out of bed, her ribs aching as she did so. The room spun a little as she stood up, so she waited a moment for the dizziness to pass. Walking over to one of the bookshelves, Yumei looked at the titles; the majority of the books seemed to be medical books. Backing away from the bookshelf, she switched her attention the desk in the corner. It appeared to have several more medical volumes and various papers filled with notes. Noticing the door in the opposite corner, the young dancer walked over to it, intending to exit the room when the door suddenly opened and a short young girl sauntered into the room carrying something in her arms.

"Oh! You're already awake!" The girl looked up at Yumei and smiled. However, the blonde girl's smile quickly faltered once she got a good look at the dancer before her.

Kiramai took a good look at the woman before her and then bit the inside of her check. When she had first heard that there was another girl on the ship, she had become excited. Seeing the woman now, however, killed that excitement. The dancer was beyond beautiful and she had a well endowed chest to boot. The jealousy welled up inside of her. Turning her head away from the curvaceous brunette, the pigtailed blonde shoved the items in her arms at Yumei. "Here's some clean clothes n' stuff… I don't have any underwear that would fit you, but the t-shirt and jumpsuit should fit okay..." After she took the offering, Kiramai pointed over to a door that Yumei hadn't noticed before on the other side of the room. "You can clean up in there."

Kiramai turned to make her exit, but then suddenly remembered something. Stopping, she pivoted around and addressed Yumei, "This is Captain Law's room, so don't touch anything or he'll get mad. When you're finished cleaning up, you can go to the galley; it's just down the hall." Turning back around, she walked into the hallway.

Before the girl could close the door, Yumei spoke up. "Thank you."

With her back still to the dancer, Kiramai blushed—she wasn't used to the courtesy. "My name's Kiramai."

Yumei smiled. "I'm Yumei."

Taking her leave, Kiramai shut the door firmly behind her before wandering back to the engine room.

In the bathroom, which consisted of a sink with a mirror secured above it, a toilet, and a large bathtub in the corner, Yumei took in the full extent of the damage as she looked in the mirror. She pulled up an edge of the bandage on her cheek that covered the thin cut there that was left from the knife one of the thugs threatened her with. She wasn't too worried about it scarring it was just a scratch. As she smoothed the bandage back over the minor wound, she noticed the bruises that were starting to form on her wrists. Sighing, she decided to deal with the mess that was called her hair, ignoring the throbbing pain of her ribs. She was sure that there would be several nasty bruises on her torso if she bothered to remove the doctor's wrap. Realizing that her mouth was terribly dry, Yumei thoroughly rinsed her mouth out with water from the sink while she scrubbed the filth from her attacker away.

After taking down her hair and combing her fingers through the tangled mess, Yumei tied her hair up into a pony tail so that it was out of her way while she rinsed herself off. She set her clothes and jewelry on the counter next to the sink after removing the articles. The voluptuous brunette washed herself as thoroughly as she could with a wash cloth—there was no way she was going to get in the bathtub and relax in such an unfamiliar and possibly dangerous place. She quickly dressed into the black t-shirt, which was almost too small, forgoing the coin bra, and the white jumpsuit that young Kiramai had brought her. As she put it on, she noticed that the jumpsuit had the Jolly Roger of the Heart Pirates on the back and a smaller version of the insignia on the front, left side. Since the interior of the submarine was rather warm, Yumei decided that instead of pulling the jumpsuit all the way on, she would tie the long sleeves of the borrowed article around her waist as the girl called Kiramai had done.

Venturing out of the relative safety of the bathroom, Yumei crossed the bedroom to the door on the other side. Following Kiramai's directions, the dancer wandered barefoot down the metallic hallway before coming to a stop outside of what she presumed to be the galley. The door was left ajar and inside she could see two men and a bear bickering over something. Unsure whether or not she should actually enter or not, Yumei stood watching the antics of the crew. Law, who was leaning against the wall near the door, took notice of the young woman. "Ah, Miss Yumei, why don't you come in? We were just about to eat lunch. Although, I'm not entirely sure it's edible."

Hearing the doctor's invitation, she took a wary step into the room. Law smirked as she tentatively shuffled in the room and made a point to stay a safe distance from him. Upon her entry into the sizable galley that held an oversized cooling unit and a shiny kitchen range, along with a table that was big enough to seat at least ten people, Yumei was better able to discern what the heated argument was about. "Look here you psycho babbling pipsqueak, there is no way in _hell_ I am going to eat that monstrosity that you call cooking." This was said by the young man with reddish brown hair who was wearing sunglasses and a blue and pink casquette hat. He was wearing a jumpsuit identical to the one she was borrowing. The person whom he was addressing, Kiramai, she remembered, was red faced and seemed to become even more livid as the man added on insults. After his utterance, the room became deathly silent. It was at this point in time that Law decided to move from his place against the wall by the door, opting to stand a further distance away, closer to the refrigerator. As soon as the captain calmly removed himself from the place that he deemed no longer safe, Shachi, along with the dining table and everything on it, went flying across the room smashing into just that place.

Yumei was slightly startled by the loud cracking sound that was, unmistakably, Casqette's bones breaking as he collided with the wall. The table that came flying after him did nothing, but further the damage on his already bruised and bloodied body. The dancer looked over to inspect the damage. Blood seeped from several of the brunette's orifices none of which the crew really seemed concerned about, and a strangely colored substance, to which Yumei was unsure of what to identify as, stained the floor. That is, until she noticed that a piece of it seemed to resemble the tail of a fish and then she remembered the bleeding man's words right before his body collided with the wall: _"There is no way in _hell_ I am going to eat that monstrosity that you call cooking."_

With the proximity of the so called "cooking" so much closer now, Yumei could definitely smell it. And boy did it reek. _Oh my_, she thought, if this is what they ate all of the time, it was a wonder that they survived so long.

Law sauntered on over to a spot closer to Yumei and watched as Kiramai darkly laughed while wielding a spoon in her left hand. Stalking over to the barely conscious Shachi, she scooped a hefty spoonful of the substance not-so-aptly dubbed lunch, and shoveled it into his gaping maw. He sweated profusely, steadily growing more ill-looking by the second, before he lost complete consciousness and frothed at the mouth. Her voice was sickly sweet as she looked down on him. "Oh look! He likes it~! Do you want some more Sha-chi~?" She cackled loudly, while scooping another spoonful from the floor.

Bepo and Penguin kept their distance from the sadistic demon whose aura was growing darker by the minute as they ran and hid behind their captain and Yumei. Law sighed. While the scene was actually quite entertaining, he figured that he should put a stop to it before Kiramai got too carried as per usual. "Kiramai. Stop, I will not be pleased if you kill one of my navigators." He said in a firm voice.

Cheerily, she popped up from her crouching position from the ground and saluted her captain. "Aye, Captain Law." She grinned.

"Now clean this up, all three of you." Bepo and Penguin slunk out from behind their captain and trudged over to the mess.

"Aye, aye sir~!" After shouting this, Kiramai turned around and delivered a swift kick to Shachi before helping Bepo right the table as Penguin aided his unconscious crewmate.

"Looks like there won't be any lunch after all…" Law sighed as he left to prepare the sick bay…for the third time that day.


	6. Chapter 6

**[Let's Play Doctor]**

Summary: LAW X OC. Yumei, a dancer running from the men that her boss sold her to, hides on the first ship she sees—too bad it's the Pirate ship of Trafalgar Law, the notorious "Surgeon of Death." What will she do when she realizes that he is a doctor, something she fears the most?

Genre: Romance

Rating: M

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, only my OCs

**A/N: I have returned! I don't know when I'll have the next chapter out, hopefully I can write it this weekend. Thanks readers, for all of the favorites and alerts and reviews! Anyway, enjoy (and review! Please?).**

**CHAPTER 6**

Unsure of what to do, Yumei stood off to the side, out of the way, as Bepo, Kiramai, and the recently returned Penguin cleaned up the mess of the previous quarrel. Penguin's stomach growled loudly. "Ahhh~ I am so hungry…"

Kiramai took this opportunity to fawn over him. "Ah! Pengi-pi! I'm sorry for throwing all of the food on the floor! I can make you some more!" Kiramai set down the mop she was using and was about to make way to the kitchen when Penguin stopped her. "Y-you don't have to that Kira!" He struggled to find something to say that would prevent her from cooking and would also not make her mad. "I don't want you to go to the trouble for me!" She squealed with delight and mega-glomped him. That's when he knew he had said the wrong thing. Sure, she wasn't mad, but it just seemed to motivate her more. His suspicions were confirmed when she replied, "It's no trouble if it is for you Pengi-pi~!"

Releasing Penguin from her death glomp, Kiramai skipped off to look for more ingredients in the refrigerator. Penguin dramatically fell to the floor, reaching out to Bepo, silently begging him to do something, anything, to prevent Kiramai from "cooking" for him. However, the only acknowledgement he received from the polar bear was the rapid refusal of a head shake before the bear turned around and continued to clean up.

Luckily for Penguin, Captain Law returned with Shachi limping pathetically behind him. "Kiramai." At the call of her name, the petite blonde ceased her rummaging through the refrigerator and turned to look at her captain.

"Yes captain?"

"You are off of food duty." There was a collective sigh in the room.

"But—"

"No 'buts.' I have already had to pump Shachi's stomach twice today."

"Yes captain." She sounded discouraged.

A loud growling noise filled the room. Everyone turned to look at Captain Law. They were starving. And so was he by the sound his stomach had made as it chorused with theirs. The room was silent for a moment before the captain of the Heart Pirates spoke. "I suppose I will have to make something." Before he could even set his nodachi against the wall, all four of his crew members shouted "NO!" at once. Well, there were three shouts and a moan which erupted from Shachi's mouth.

"What was that?" The dark haired captain's aura grew dark as he turned to glare at them, upset that they were trying to tell him what to do.

"W-what we mean to say captain is that you don't need to cook! We can wait!" Penguin piped up, trying to placate his captain, terrified of what his captain might do otherwise. With Law's sadistic personality, it was hard to tell what terrible thing he would come up with to torture the person his anger was directed at. And Penguin certainly did not want whatever it was this time to be aimed at him.

"Look captain," Kiramai bluntly admitted Law, her hands on her hips. "Your cooking sucks. It's worse than mine."

"Well, who will cook then? We have to eat." There was silence. The only sound to be heard was that of the humming engine. "If there are no volunteers then—"

"I-I can cook for you." Yumei spoke up and shuffled forward a bit, reminding the crew of her presence, not that she had been completely forgotten in the first place. Law raised a curious eyebrow at this, but before he had a chance to say anything Penguin and (the apparently recovered) Shachi crowded in front of her to introduce themselves and drool over her.

"Ah~ If it isn't dancer-chan~! I'm Shachi! And this is Penguin!"

She was barely able to introduce herself to them before she was interrupted by the one named Penguin. "We're so lucky! Having a beautiful woman cook for us~!" Upon hearing this, Kiramai crossed her arms and went to pout in the corner by the fridge. Her outburst was ignored, however, by the crew, who just continued on with their banter.

"We are!" Agreed Shachi.

"She isn't a female_ bear_…" Bepo dejectedly pointed out.

"Who would want that!" The two yelled synonymously.

"Sorry," Bepo mumbled.

"That's Bepo." The two pirates whispered to her. "Just ignore him."

"You can cook Miss Yumei?" This time Law spoke to her.

She didn't meet his eyes when she mumbled a reply. "Yes, I do it all the time. It's nothing fancy though."

"Well then, be my guest." He swept his arm over the span of the kitchen and then took a step closer to her—to be more intimidating, as he gave her a warning, "However, don't try anything that would harm my crew."

Not letting herself be frightened by his status as a doctor or his scare tactics, she looked straight at him. "Of course not." She tightened her pony tail as she swiftly walked past him toward the refrigerator to look for some ingredients to make a decent meal. Before she opened the fridge, however, she noticed a sulking Kiramai sitting in the corner. Smiling at the girl who looked cute, even while pouting, Yumei crouched down next to her and spoke to her. "Is there something that you would like me to make?"

At first, Kiramai ignored the exotic dancer, even going so far as to turn her back on her and face the wall. However, Yumei didn't relent. "You must have worked so hard on that meal. It did go to such a waste, falling on the floor like that. And you got it to turn such an interesting color too; I don't think I could have done that. Shouldn't the chef be rewarded for all of her hard work?"

Kiramai couldn't ignore the compliment. She _did_ work hard on lunch after all and it _had _been a cool color… Blushing lightly at the compliment, Kiramai turned her head slightly to answer the big breasted woman. "Takoyaki," she said simply.

Smiling at her triumph, Yumei patted the adorable mechanic on the head. "Takoyaki it is then." Kiramai blushed even harder with the warm hand on her head and buried her face in her arms. It was nice, she thought, being pat on the head, a way a mother or a sister might do, something she had missed out on.

Before standing up, Yumei leaned in a bit closer so that only Kiramai could hear her whisper, "Don't worry, I'm not going to steal him from you." Abruptly looking up as the dancer walked away to get started on lunch, Kiramai thought that Yumei might not be so bad after all. Popping up from her sulking position on the floor, Kiramai followed Yumei around the kitchen as she gathered and put together the ingredients.

The Heart Pirates sat at the table and watched the two move around the kitchen. Penguin spoke first. "Wow, captain look at that—Kira's following her around just like a baby chick. It's kinda… cute…"

It was indeed interesting that Kiramai warmed up to the dancer so quickly; she almost never even acknowledged strangers, but this woman had won her over with ease.

"And how hot does that dancer look cooking? Damn, captain, if she can cook even half as good as she looks, can we keep her?" Shachi drooled.

"We don't even know her Shachi. She is a stow away and she could be dangerous."

"Aw, come on cap. We are stuck down in this sub for weeks without seeing a real woman. Admit it. It would be nice to have one around." Shachi may have had a point. Though the captain didn't say it aloud, even he couldn't help but notice that the dancer called Yumei _did_ look rather nice moving around the kitchen. But as the captain, Law couldn't ignore the fact that they knew nothing about the mysterious woman who was taking over the galley.

After serving the Heart Pirates their lunch which consisted of takoyaki and a few side dishes, Yumei set to work on cleaning up the mess she had made in the kitchen. Law noticed that she wasn't taking any of the food she made herself. "Miss Yumei, you made all of this food, you don't have to clean up."

"Yeah! Yumei-nee! It's really good! Come eat with us! You have to be hungry." Kiramai ate some more takoyaki and moaned with satisfaction.

Penguin and Shachi cried in unison as they took a bite as well. "It's so good!" The two shoveled more food into their mouths. "Yumei-chan! You have to eat too! We can't let you starve after you made all of this great food for us!" Shachi blubbered around the food in his mouth. Penguin and Bepo just nodded with full mouths.

"Well, I'm not really hungry…" Her stomach grumbled, betraying her. Looking down, she quickly covered her stomach with her arms.

Law raised his eyebrow at that. "Not hungry Miss Yumei? Doesn't sound like it to me."

"You can come sit next to us!" Shachi asserted as Penguin moved over to make room between the two of them.

Yumei hesitated. She didn't trust them, not because they were pirates, but because she never trusted anyone in general—men in particular and especially never any doctors. However, she didn't have to hesitate long, for Kiramai jumped up from her seat and grabbed her hand, dragging her to a seat next to her. "You can sit next to me!" Kiramai grinned at her.

"Aw Kira! We wanted to sit with her!" whined Shachi.

Ignoring him, she continued to speak to Yumei, "You don't want to sit with those drooling lackies. Look at them, they have no table manners. They're just like animals."

"Sorry," Bepo sullenly interjected from next to Penguin and Law. Before she could tell the talking bear to shut up and not take offense, Shachi interrupted.

"What did you say half pint!" he yelled across the table at her.

Kiramai snapped her head toward him. "I said, Nee-chan wouldn't want to sit with your nasty—"

Penguin swallowed his food, choosing to ignore the bickering and addressed Law who sat at the head of the table, "Captain Law! You have to try it!"

Silently taking a bite of the food the dancer so kindly cooked for them, Law agreed that it was good—definitely much better than what any of them could ever make. Maybe the Heart Pirates would keep the small, curvaceous dancer after all…


	7. Chapter 7

**[Let's Play Doctor]**

Summary: LAW X OC. Yumei, a dancer running from the men that her boss sold her to, hides on the first ship she sees—too bad it's the Pirate ship of Trafalgar Law, the notorious "Surgeon of Death." What will she do when she realizes that he is a doctor, something she fears the most?

Genre: Romance

Rating: M

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, only my OCs

**A/N: At last! I have finally gotten on with the next chapter! And to make up for my absence, I present you with 7 and a half pages of Yumei and Law! I have been in the mood to write lately, so I will hopefully write the next chapter soon (like I haven't said that before). -_-' Anyway, I just want to thank all of my lovely reviewers once again and all of the people who have favorited me! You all make me gleam like the blood on freshly gored corpses! (I mean that in a good way)! Please review! Tell me what you liked (or didn't like) or criticize my writing (preferably constructive, but I'll take what I can get) or whatever. I always love to hear from you~! Enjoy the chapter! :)**

**CHAPTER 7**

"Miss Yumei, when you are finished with your breakfast you will accompany me to my quarters." Yumei panicked. Accompany him to _his_ quarters? _Alone_? Was he crazy? Then again, judging by the smirk that was almost always on his face, she was sure that calling him _crazy_ wasn't far from reality.

Quickly, she struggled to come up with some excuse to stall his demand. "I should do the dishes."

"No need. Penguin will do them." Damn. Okay. So maybe "washing the dishes" wasn't the best excuse in the first place. She would probably get the urge to smash some of those dishes to pieces anyway so that she could slash deep into her wrists for the idiotic situation she got herself into. Living was her goal. Well, at least it had been. She wasn't so sure anymore. Living a life with her more-than-tarnished hope for humanity was beginning to old. Fast. But honestly? Who gets on a pirate submarine to hide from thugs? Apparently her. From one bad situation into another, more than likely worse one. When would she learn?

She needed to think of a better excuse—one that preferably didn't end in her getting put back in the Dark Doctor's infirmary.

"Yes captain." Penguin sullenly mumbled in response. He always seemed to get stuck with that duty, which was usually because Shachi tended to sustain multiple injuries from his arguments with Kira at mealtime; Kira would be banned from the kitchen for whatever atrocity she created(the so called "food)-slash-committed(also known as not-so-irrevocably damaging Shachi) in the galley; Bepo didn't have opposable thumbs or know his own strength so he tended to break most of the dishes, and Law was the captain (so he could do whatever the hell he wanted, which didn't tend to involve cleaning up the mess his subordinates made). Penguin shrugged. He would just have to accept it as his duty to the crew. And, hey, he didn't mind it so much if he got to eat Yumei's cooking.

Yumei was about to spout another excuse when Law cut her off. "Why don't you stop trying to come up with excuses, Miss Yumei? It is inevitable that you will do as I ask. We could stand here all day and do this. Just make it easier on yourself and comply with my wishes. Then again, it's fine if you want to make this difficult—watching you squirm will just provide me with that much more entertainment."

It's not like she could come up with that many valid excuses anyway… At least not while she was on an unfamiliar submarine who-knows-how-many meters below sea level. She let a small dejected sigh escape from her lips as she stood from her seat and shuffled toward him with her head down. Why start the abuse later when now was so much sooner?

Yumei quietly followed Law the short distance down the metallic hallway to his room. She was nervous. He could probably tell, she thought to herself. Not like she was bothering to hide her discomfort. What did he want with her? Well, she thought she had a good idea, but he hadn't done anything to her yet, even though he'd had the chance. Then again, maybe he wanted to wait until she had a false sense of security—most people wouldn't bother to do that, but this guy looked like he got off on stuff like that. His being a doctor only added to her suspicions. Not that it mattered. He wouldn't trick her into feeling safe. She wasn't even sure she could feel that way. She had never felt it before and she highly doubted that she would start now.

Barely breaking his stride to open the door, Law held it open as he waited for Yumei to slowly follow him inside. He could tell she was nervous. She stayed the maximum distance away from him that she could, shuffling to the other side of the room—the side opposite his bed. She still kept her head down, but he did catch her eyeing his bed wearily.

Law motioned for her to take a seat in the chair at his desk as he sat on the edge of his bed. Yumei took a step back from him when he silently offered her the chair. She didn't get very far though before the wall stopped her and she bumped into it. She gripped the hem of her borrowed t-shirt, tugging it down in front of her. She was relieved that he hadn't taken her back to the infirmary. She hated that place. It stunk and made her think of all kinds of things she didn't want to ever remember. It took her to a dark abysmal place that she never wanted to go. However, his bringing her to his room still unsettled her. What was he planning?

Silence was thick in the air as Trafalgar Law watched the insecure dancer stand motionless against the wall; it was quite obvious that she wasn't going to sit. She was waiting for him to make the first move.

Tugging his hat off, he lazily dragged his fingers through his dark hair. "How are you feeling?" He decided to ask first. As a doctor he needed to know. However, Yumei did not answer him. She just stood rooted to the spot by the desk. He grinned. Apparently he would have to coax an answer from her. "Miss Yumei, if you do not give me some sort of feedback, I will be forced to come over there and deduct the state of your wellness for myself."

Law made a move to stand up, but before he had the chance to do so, the small dancer quickly responded. "I feel fine." She realized that this simple answer wouldn't satisfy the sadistic doctor so she continued, "I mean it hurts to breathe a little bit, but that's normal and I am breathing deeply when I can. My head doesn't really hurt anymore and I don't feel dizzy either." She finished quickly. Her hands gripped the hem of the shirt even tighter.; she felt like she was being inspected under a microscope. She didn't like being alone with him, not that that wasn't blaringly obvious. She wished he would just hurry to whatever the point of this little "meeting" was so that she could leave. So she could be anywhere but here.

_Oh how effective fear tactics are_, Law mused. He settled back onto his bed and studied her from afar. She was still in that same position from when they had first entered—head down with some of her long brown hair falling over her shoulder, her back to the wall, her hands tightly gripping her shirt. The pinnacle of discomfort and insecurity. He wasn't going to free her of it just yet either. Not until he got more information. Not until he was relieved of _some _of his boredom. So, firmly planting his hands behind him on the bed, he leaned back on them, staring at her with his stormy gray eyes, thinking of how to make his next move. If he wasn't careful, he wouldn't get _any _information out of her. How boring would that be? Choosing his next words wisely he said, "Miss Yumei, what are your intentions here on my ship?"

She lifted her head to look up at him. His question threw her off guard. Why the hell would he ask her that? Her intentions? She thought it was quite obvious that she only boarded his ship to escape from someone. Not that that decision was her most intelligent one she'd ever made, but wasn't the situation evident from her injuries? Was he dumb? And wait, shouldn't she be asking _him_ that question? What exactly were _his_ intentions with her? She was here in his room and he hadn't yet really done anything at all other than talk to her. It was the same earlier when she woke up the first time. Why had he even bothered to bandage her wounds? Too busy with her own internal inquiries, Yumei barely caught him addressing her for a second time.

"Miss Yumei, I really don't like to repeat myself, so please pay attention when I address you the first time." She had heard him the first time; she just hadn't expected him to ask her that. "What are your intentions here? You're not going to be a problem are you?" Of course she wouldn't be. He wouldn't allow her to be.

"I… I don't…" She wasn't sure what to say. She hadn't had any other intentions than the one to make a quick escape. She didn't want to be a problem. She just wanted to leave, to get off of this submarine, to get away. So she decided to settle with saying just that. "I just want to leave." She dreaded his response.

"Leave? We are several thousand meters below sea level and nowhere near an island. How do you suppose you leave? We could always surface and throw you into the ocean and let you swim," Yumei was actually hopeful of this choice, but it was quickly shut down by the next words he spoke. "But then I wouldn't be doing a very good job as a doctor if I didn't properly finish caring for my patient, now would I?" She hunched her shoulders. She had liked that idea. Sure she was a little injured, but she'd manage… Somehow. And really, it wasn't like she was his responsibility. Doctor caring for his patient. Who was he trying to fool?

"You still haven't answered my question Yumei." He didn't bother with the 'miss' this time. "Don't make me repeat myself _again_." He stared her straight in the eye. And waited for her reply. He knew the answer to his question, of course, but he wanted to hear her say it.

"I just…" She hesitated. What was she supposed to say? "I only wanted to get away from some people chasing me."

"That's all? Who purposely boards the submarine of a pirate to escape pursuers? Doesn't that sound like a death wish to you?" She certainly thought so too, but she hadn't realized at the time that it was a pirate vessel. She never would have boarded it had she known.

Law was pretty confident in his deduction that the girl didn't have any ulterior motives. He had seen her at the restaurant when she was running from those men. And the way she reacted to him in the first place was a good indicator of her innocence. Her more violent reaction to him once she discovered who he was only supported the fact. She definitely didn't board his submarine on purpose. Besides, she didn't seem like the type for ulterior motives.

"It was the only thing I could think to do at the time…" She mumbled to herself in response, looking away from him. It wasn't like she had a lot of time to come up with a better plan.

Law stood and stretched his arms up. This caused Yumei to quickly snap her attention back to him. He loped toward her with a lazy grin on his face. "What are you doing?" She asked him, trying to keep the panic from her voice. She succeeded… Mostly.

"I need to check on check your head."

And with his reply, she made sure to stay on her side of his desk. "No you don't. My head is fine."

He knew that she was probably fine too, but he needed to extract some information from her. And this was the most effective way to do it. And the most entertaining. "Miss Yumei, concussions need to be monitored no matter how severe so that they don't become too serious."

It was childish she new, but every time he tried to round the desk to meet her, she moved the opposite way. Effectively keeping the desk as a barrier between the two of them. The two danced like that for several minutes, staring each other down, neither willing to give in.

Law leaned forward on his hands that were on the desk. His back was to the door. The door to her refuge. "What has you so determined to stay away from me? I don't intend to hurt you."

Yumei didn't believe that for one second. He was a doctor. She would _never_ trust his words. "I just don't like doctors." There was no 'just' about it. She _hated_ doctors. She hated everything associated with them.

Law didn't believe her. She had tried to say that nonchalantly, but he knew better. There was more to it than just not liking doctors. He could see it in her eyes. And he wanted to know what it was. "And why is that?" He _burned_ to know the answer.

"I don't see how that's your business." She shot at him. She wouldn't tell him.

He didn't really like her tone, but he overlooked it. Because she would tell him. He would make her. "I think that I should know since, for the next few weeks, I will be _your_ doctor."

Her jaw dropped, well not literally. Next few weeks? Surely they would arrive at an island sooner? Reading the slightly distressed expression on her face, Law decided to grace her with an answer. "We won't be arriving at our next destination for quite a while. You will have to stick with us until then. Unless of course you decide to cause problems, then I'll have to strap you to one of the tables in the infirmary and do what I please with your body."

The look on her face, but more importantly the look in her eyes, told him more than enough to peak his interest even more. He didn't just see a fear there of what he _could _do to her, but he could see that there was a fear of the past. This just kept getting better and better. He grinned widely. This would be so much _fun_. He wouldn't have to worry about being bored for a while.

With this newfound information, Law turned around and headed to his bedroom's entrance. It seemed that pressing her for anything else at the moment would only result in a total shut down on her part, which would get him nowhere. And he still needed a decent cook for the time being. He figured that the safest bet would be to get her out of his bedroom and away from him before he caused her to have another panic attack. "Hurry up." He said to her after he had already stepped into the hallway, effectively snapping her out of the daze she had seemed to be in after his threat. Apparently, she needed more elaboration because she still hadn't moved from her spot. "We will return to the galley, so that either Kiramai or Bepo may show you around the ship and to your room."

"My room?"

"You'll be here for a while; you will need a place to sleep. I expect you to make meals in return for our _hospitality_, however."

His stress on the word 'hospitality' wasn't lost on her. It was only hospitality as long as she didn't cause any problems. The moment she did however, she knew that he would make good on his threat. Not that she had any intentions of finding out how far he would go on that threat.


	8. Chapter 8

**[Let's Play Doctor]**

Summary: LAW X OC. Yumei, a dancer running from the men that her boss sold her to, hides on the first ship she sees—too bad it's the Pirate ship of Trafalgar Law, the notorious "Surgeon of Death." What will she do when she realizes that he is a doctor, something she fears the most?

Genre: Romance

Rating: M

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, only my OCs

**A/N: So! This chapter is longer! It is for all of you lovelies who have stuck with me! This was originally supposed to be two chapters, but I figured "what the hell, let's make it one!"**

**So reviews are greatly appreciated, even if they are just to tell me how you feel about the story! Also, please tell me! How am I doing portraying Law and the Heart Pirates? I know there isn't too much to go on from the anime, but still… Just let me know how I am dong—it would make me very happy! And on another note, I don't know what it is with me bashing poor Shachi all the time. I have just made him an easy target, I guess. Heh, heh. Well every crew has that one… Anyway! On with the fanfiction! Be prepared for a little LawX OC action! :3**

**CHAPTER 8**

Yumei once again followed Law down the metallic hallway, this time heading toward the galley. She trudged after him quietly and at a greater distance than before—just in case he changed his mind and decided to make good on his threat from earlier.

As they walked down the hall, Law supposed that it was probably wise to give the dancer some space. After all, it wouldn't do to have her jump overboard prematurely—that would deprive him of all the fun he had planned. He grinned. Oh, such fun he had planned.

She was so lost in thought worrying about what the devilish Heart Pirate captain next had in store for her, that she didn't realize that they had already arrived at their destination until she heard her "host" address the only other person in the room—well 'person' was putting it loosely in this case, since the other being in the room wasn't really a human at all. This so called 'person' was actually a fluffy, white bear (a polar bear she guessed) that stood upright and wore a bright orange jumpsuit, much like the one she was wearing. His name was 'Bepo,' if she remembered correctly.

"Bepo, where is Kiramai?" Law addressed the massive bear, confirming her memory on the bear's name.

"She returned to the engine room Captain. She said she had some things to do." The bear replied.

"Then you will give Miss Yumei a tour of the sub and escort her to her room."

"Aye, captain!" he answered. That was when his beady bear eyes turned their attention on her. He stared at her and she stared back. It was then that she noticed that he was lightly sniffing at the air—sniffing out her scent, trying to figure it out. Disturbed by this, Yumei discreetly tried to inch herself further away from the bear's curious snout. She really wished he wouldn't do that.

Bepo had apparently caught on to the girl's scent because he shifted closer to her while she was subtly trying to back away from him. As the bear drew closer to her, Yumei threw away all discretion and attempted to run away from him. Unfortunately, the bear was not to be deterred as he continued to pursue the disquieted dancer's scent across the room. Law watched the scene with mild interest as Bepo gave chase and eventually cornered her by the stove. The bear wasn't one to needlessly chase around a female, especially not a human one and the determination with which the agile dancer tried to escape made it that much more entertaining for the doctor.

It was as the overly large beast continued to follow her throughout the room that Yumei decided that she hated them—the persistent bear and his sadistic captain. The bear, not because of _what_ he was (although admittedly, what he was, was indeed strange, she knew that she had seen stranger), but because of what he could _do_. Dammit, he could expose her with that stupid nose of his. She could only imagine the things his captain, the "good" doctor would do if he found out about her. No, she would have to avoid the bear as much as possible—she would _not_ go through another ordeal like _that_ again. As for his captain, she had already felt adversely toward him from the beginning, but that snarky smirk that he wore on his face as he watched his nosey (excuse the pun) underling stalk her across the kitchen only motivated her to dislike the man more.

That bastard of a captain only decided that he should stop his fluffy henchmen _after_ he had already cornered her and promptly snouted her hair—inhaling her scent deeply. "Bepo, that's enough. Now give Miss Yumei the tour."

Law tired to hold back his chuckle as the dancer glared at him and shoved Bepo's snout away from her. "I would ask, Miss Yumei, that you treat my crew with respect."

She didn't back down, even with the unspoken threat tacked on the end of his seemingly polite request, though it sounded more like a command. She wasn't scared of him right now; she was livid and he knew it, which made him grin all the more—_what an interesting reaction_. "And what about your crew treating me with respect?" She angrily retorted, breathing the word 'bastard' under her breath afterward, even though they both knew that he could hear her. If it were possible, Law's grin grew. Nope, he wouldn't be bored for quite a while.

"Bepo, do your best to respect our guest's personal space." He chuckled as his first mate stepped away from their 'guest' and hung his head in apology. Law heard him mumble a simple "sorry" as he left the room to leave Bepo to giving the dancer a tour.

Leisurely strolled down the hallway and up the stairs to the bridge, Law found Shachi and Penguin monitoring and navigating the course of the sub around the sparse underwater rock formations. "Ah! Captain!" Shachi sprang up from his seat in front of a radar. "Everything is fine up here." He glanced around as if looking for something. "Aw… Where's dancer-chan?"

Law smirked. "Bepo is giving Miss Yumei a tour."

"What?" he complained in an exaggerated tone. "Bepo? Cap'n! I could have done it! He's not around women that often! What if he starts dry humping her? He is an animal after all! I mean, even _Bepo_ must realize her sexiness!" As Shachi finished with his small rant, Penguin, who was still preoccupied with his duties, commented under his breath, "I think _you're_ the one we have to worry about mauling the woman…"

Shachi had apparently heard his penguin-hatted comrade because he abruptly turned toward him and retorted, "What was that? Are you saying that I'm more of an animal than that fuzzy beast is!"

Penguin looked over at him, "Well if the shoe fits… I mean, you _always_ drool all over the women at the bars. Poor Yumei is probably _still_ wiping it off her chest…"

"Me! Me? What about you!"

"What about me?"

"You are just as bad! At least _I_ ogle openly! You're the kind of creep that stares at a woman from across the bar all night and then stalks her on her way home!"

"I don't do that!" Penguin stood up then and approached Shachi who met him half way.

"Really? Don't try to deny it! I saw you! Remember? Two islands ago? You followed that cute waitress home! Stalker!"

"Wha—That was ONCE! And I was only making sure she got home safely!" Penguin defended.

"Sure, sure. That's what they all say! You stalker!"

"Stalker?" Penguin was silent for a moment… "Shut up you ginger!"

"Stalker!" Shachi called back.

"No soul! No soul!" Penguin yelled at him.

The name calling went back and forth for a few minutes before Law grew tired of their bickering. He barely had to raise his voice for the two to cease their verbal (and by the looks of it soon to be physical) sparring match. "Bepo is giving the tour. I expect the two of you to control your urges around our guest." The two turned toward their captain and nodded in unison, taking Law's silent threat to heart—neither would accost the young dancer… or maul her… or drool on her… or stalk her. Darkly laughing at the antics of his two crewmates, Trafalgar Law decided that he would return to his room to finish the medical journal that he had been reading.

Yumei was still miffed from the previous debacle. "Respect her personal space" he had said? Like he seemed to do so well? Maybe he should follow by example! He was such an ass! At least his pet bear listened and now stayed at a respectable distance. However, Bepo still lightly sniffed the air, trying to figure out her scent. Refusing to let it go on, she snapped in an exasperated tone, "Stop trying to sniff me!"

"Sorry," was the bear's reply as he ducked his head in apology. However, he quickly recovered from his depression as he raised his head to stare at her. "You…" he paused as if trying to gage what her next reaction might be. "You have an off smell—you don't smell like the other humans." He finally stated matter-of-factly.

Yumei stared at him. She didn't think he really knew what it was about her that smelled off yet. She hoped he didn't. "Well not all humans smell the same, do they?" She waited until he shook his head to continue. "Otherwise how would you be able to differentiate the scents? I imagine tracking someone would be difficult if they smelled the same as everybody else. And it seems to me that you are around a lot more men than women. Maybe that is what you are smelling?" Yumei suggested, trying to come off as nonchalant.

Bepo shrugged at the dancer's explanation. It could be that what she said was true, but he had an inkling that that wasn't the case. The polar bear sensed that there was more to this than what she was letting on. He just wouldn't know for sure what that was until he identified what was strange about the woman's smell. He would have to mention it to the captain later, but until then, he would do what he was ordered to do, which was give the suspicious smelling dancer a tour of the submarine.

Yumei watched as the bear called "Bepo" walked away from her, only stopping when he reached the doorway of the galley to turn around and look at her expectantly. Figuring that was her cue to follow him so they could commence with the tour, Yumei complied, allowing the fuzzy bear to lead the way into the bowels of the ship.

After showing her the bridge, where she was welcomed rather enthusiastically by Shachi and Penguin, Bepo guided her around the lowest level of the ship, which mostly consisted of storage rooms and the engine room. It was there that the two came upon Kiramai who quickly jumped up from her work and greeted them. Kira, as she insisted Yumei call her, was about to give Yumei a, what she was sure to be bone crushing, hug when she stopped herself short with a small pout on her pixie-like face. "I'm all oily and greasy…" She deflatedly lamented. Not really sure of what to say in this type of situation, as she wasn't accustomed to it, Yumei patted the young girl on the head gingerly and hoped that she had responded correctly. This incited a grin from the small blonde before she flounced off to return to whatever it was she had been doing. "See ya later nee-chan! I gotta get back to work before my tyrant of a captain yells at me!" She called over her shoulder to her new role model.

Continuing their venture back upstairs, Yumei's tour guide briefly showed her the crew's quarters. Telling her that this was where he, Shachi, and Penguin slept. He also explained that Kira slept in the engine room now because the girl didn't want to be too far away in case something happened. He quickly took her past the infirmary, which was just down the hall, at her vehement insistence that her seeing it was unnecessary.

Coming full circle, they ended the tour—after Bepo showed Yumei various other parts of the ship—coming to a stop outside of a room that she had not yet seen. A room that was right next to Captain Trafalgar Law's bedroom. She had a bad feeling about this. "This is where you will sleep while you are on the sub." The bear stated simply. After opening the door for her, he waited until she entered before he left.

Yumei stood in the doorway in shocked silence. She was going to be sleeping in a room right next to the infamous Dark Doctor's. Feeling the insecurity creep up on her, she closed the door to her new temporary bedroom and took in her surroundings. The room wasn't that entirely big, not that she minded (she had been in much smaller before). It consisted of a simple twin sized bed, which sat in one corner, with a chest sitting at the foot of it. A small night stand rested next to the bed and a desk with a chair was on the opposite wall. At least the room had a window, which gave her a nice view of the murky depths of the sea partially illuminated by some kind of light that was attached to the outside of the Heart Pirate's submarine.

Suddenly feeling exhausted, Yumei sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the empty wall above the desk. Her achy ribs protested as she slouched. This room was a lot bigger than the one she grew up in and this one even had a view. It didn't smell funny either. She appreciated the courtesy, though the doctor probably didn't even know that he offered her such. She shook her head. No, she could not let herself think that this man even had a modicum of humanity—he was a doctor and a pirate at that. A criminal with a bounty on his head. It wasn't like she would be here much longer anyway. She would get off this submarine of horrors as soon as she could, even if she had to swim.

Laying her back on the bed, Yumei lifted her hand in front of her face so that she could look at the palm. Kira had smiled when she had done such a simple thing. Lowering her hand to rest on her abdomen, she shifted her gaze to the ceiling and thought about it. Sure, she had made the teen smile in the kitchen, but that was only to prevent the girl from misunderstanding her intentions. _She_ had made someone smile. She had never done that before; at least not incite such an innocent one. A ghost of a smile appeared on her own lips. Maybe there was hope after all.

Closing her eyes, the dancer felt her exhaustion. She was tired. Reopening them, she glanced at the shut door. It didn't have a lock, but no one had seemed to disturb her before when she was unconscious. Maybe she could chance a short nap… She closed her eyes once again. A nap wouldn't be such a bad idea. She slept light anyway, so she would hear if anyone came into the room. _It will be okay_, she assured herself as she drifted off to sleep.

Shachi and Penguin had apparently made up for they wandered down the hallway of the sub, leaning weakly against one another as if they were soldiers returning injured and weary from the battlefield. "Captain!" They whined in unison as they beat on his door. "We're hungry!"

Hearing his crewmates incessant pleas, Law whipped open the door to his bedroom to face the obnoxious duo. "Captain! We're hungry!" They cried once again.

"Obviously, but why are you bothering me about it?" Now that he thought about it, he was hungry too. He had been so busy reading all afternoon that he hadn't noticed the pangs of hunger taking root deep within his stomach.

"But captain," Shachi started once again. "We're—" Law cut him off with the raise of his hand. He didn't want to hear either of their whining. He would just have to retrieve the new temporary cook and make her deal with them.

Yumei was startled awake by what she thought to be a loud banging noise and loud voices. She abruptly sat up in bed, after deducting that her room was safe for the moment. She grabbed her head on the way up as it spun from the quick movement. Maybe moving so quickly had been a bad idea.

Keeping her gaze fixed on the door, Yumei listened. It was quiet for a beat and then she heard two men wail, "Captain! We're hungry!" She jumped at the sudden cry. Climbing off the bed, she quietly crept toward the door. She heard what was unmistakably Law's voice say in reply, "Obviously, but why are you bothering me about it?" And then she heard the man who she thought to be Shachi whine. "But captain! We're—" His voice immediately cut off however, leaving Yumei to wonder what had happened. Throwing caution to the wind as she opened the door to a possibly dangerous situation, she came face to face with Captain Trafalgar Law.

Yumei looked at Law. He looked as though he were about to knock on her door or, as his past disregard for her personal space suggested, looked as though he were about to open her door and stroll in as if the height her blood pressure didn't concern him. That trademark smirk of his was still on his face. Just looking at it pissed her off all over again. This made her inwardly frown—she never had this kind of hateful reaction to someone before. It was usually all fake smiles carefully placed over deep seated panic and paranoia, but never outright anger toward anyone—not even toward the marines that tried to kill her or toward _that_ man. She tightened her grip on the door knob. She had feared those people, but she didn't feel anger toward them. By all means, it was not a sign that she didn't fear the pirate captain, she did, but she had a feeling—somewhere deep inside of her—that that fear was different from her fear of the others. A different fear than what her conscious was trying to convince her of. This strange mix of fear and anger frustrated her because she couldn't begin to understand it. That was dangerous and that inability to understand it was what scared her the most.

Yumei was broken out of her reverie by Law, who decided to place his hands on either side of the doorframe and invade her personal space. His doing so caused the dancer to quickly back up a few steps into her room where she promptly tripped over the corner of the chest that sat at the foot of the bed. Letting out a startled little squeak from the sudden contact, she closed her eyes and braced herself for the fall—the space was too small for her to try and catch herself without causing herself more injury in the process. Her ribs were just going to love making contact with the floor. However, Law reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her close before she had the chance to hit the ground. Yumei cracked open one eyelid. Law was leaning on the door jam with her flush against him. Their faces were in such close proximity that she could feel his breath on her face. She felt her heart beat speed up—that stupid grin was still on his face. Abruptly pushing him away from her (she hoped that would dispel her erratic heartbeat), Yumei swiftly pushed past him and headed for the galley so that she could make dinner—she was fairly certain that that was what Law had come to bother her for, if the ruckus Penguin and Shachi made was any indication.

Law laughed inwardly as he watched the flustered dancer storm down the hallway after mumbling a quick "thanks." She had the most interesting reactions, especially toward him. First she was terrified of him, then angry with him, and now, well, now he wasn't' sure what emotion had crossed her features before she pushed him away and replaced her mask. Was it confusion maybe? He wasn't sure, but he knew that it would be fun to find out.

Successfully reaching the galley undeterred, Yumei clutched her chest—her heart was still beating rapidly and it wasn't from the quick walk to the galley either. That shouldn't have worn her out. No, it was from her very near encounter with the Surgeon of Death. The worst part was: her heart wasn't beating out of fear. That was _not_ something she was willing to dwell on, so she busied herself with making dinner.

"Yumei-nee!" Yumei hadn't noticed Kiramai sneak up behind her until she squealed her name. This startled her and nearly caused her to burn her hand on the stove top. Realizing her mistake, Kira quickly apologized, "I'm sorry Yumei-nee! I didn't mean to startle you! You didn't burn your hand did you?" She was genuinely concerned.

"No… I am fine." She hesitated then smiled what she hoped to be a reassuring smile. Apparently it was, because Kira smiled in turn. "Thank goodness! I wouldn't want you to have hurt yourself because of me." She peaked around Yumei, "Oh! That looks good! It smells good too!"

Law entered the galley with the rest of the crew following him. "Ah! Yumei-chan!" Shachi jumped out from behind Law excitedly. "And pipsqueak." He acknowledged Kira with a disheartened voice.

"Shut up, you no soul!" Kira shouted at him as she left Yumei's side to go sit at the table.

"Why does everyone keep calling me that?" He went to pout in his chair at the table.

Yumei was too focused on her cooking to notice Law's approach. It wasn't until he was leaned over her shoulder looking at her concoction that she bothered to notice. It did startle her, but not as much as his breath on her neck did when he asked her what she was making. Sputtering, she bumped into his chest which caused him to back up a couple of steps so that she could turn around and point her spatula at him, creating a semi-barrier between the two of them. "Stay out of my personal space!" She breathed heavily. This man was going to give her a heart attack! He was a doctor! He should care about giving his patients a panic attack (or that was the theory about doctors anyway).

His face grew dark. "Please?" She tacked on at the end. It sounded more like a question now. What the hell was his problem? He's the one that scared her half to death! He still had that disturbing bloodthirsty look on his face, so she changed the subject. What had he asked her again? Oh, yes, about the food. What it was. "I—I'm making spaghetti." She stuttered out. How she hated the way she just sounded. Damn him for making her lose what dignity she had left. He put her off balance. She did not relish that feeling.

Yumei spun back toward the stove. She needed to finish dinner so that she could get away from him. Tightening her pony tail and flicking her hair over her shoulder, she set to finish what she had started.

She realized as she went to stir the spaghetti sauce that Law was still behind her. He made her nervous. She didn't want to look. She wanted him to go away, but was too afraid to turn back around and tell him to.

"Captain Law!" Kira cried. "Don't you think you should stop hovering and come sit? She isn't going to poison us! Right nee-chan?" Holding her breath, Yumei could only nod in response. "See? Come on, captain! I need to tell you about what I did this afternoon!"

Law growled behind her, but left to go hear Kira out. Releasing the breath she had been holding, she sighed in relief. _Thank you Kira_.

Turning down the heat on the stove, Yumei moved to grab some plates and silverware to set on the table, only to find Penguin already doing it. Grateful that she could at least limit her contact with Law this way, she turned back to the stove to strain the spaghetti so she could put it on the table.

With the bowl of pasta in one hand and the sauce in the other, she carefully carried them to the table. She fully intended to set them down and go back to her room; after her various encounters with Law today, she was left without an appetite. However, Law must have known what she was thinking for she could not refuse the words that he next spoke to her. She didn't feel like fighting him. The result would still be the same anyway. He would get his way one way or another. She didn't want to deal with his scare tactics anymore tonight. She wasn't sure her heart could take it.

"Sit," Law ordered her. "And eat." So at his forceful request, she sat down on the other side of Kira and put some food on her plate.

Law was still kind of infuriated that she tried to order _him_ around. _He _was the captain after all and _she_ was just a measly little dancer stuck on his ship until they landed upon _his _fancy. _Not_ hers. She was just lucky that Kira had saved her. The short-tempered mechanic was more than he wanted to handle and she really did have something to say to him—updates on the state of the engine and what parts they would need the next time they landed. It could have waited, but obviously Kira had taken a liking to the dancer and had decided to try and protect her from his outburst. He let her do so. This time. It's not like he would have much to entertain himself with if he killed her so soon. Law scrutinized the temporary cook. She would eat and he would make sure of it.

The crew was silent as their captain stared down the newcomer. He expected her to do what he told her to do. Yumei did not want to deal with the coming temper tantrum of Law should she not comply to his wishes, so she took a bite of the food that she had made, watching him the whole time. Which was terrifying, considering she could still see the anger in the depths of his stormy grey eyes.

All tension left the room as she quietly took a bite. The rest of the crew followed, no longer fearing the captain's wrath would be inflicted on the dancer.

After seeing to it that the dishes were done. Yumei fled to her small room. She wanted to avoid confronting Law if at all possible. Miraculously, she was successful and was able to get off to bed without any more incidents. Although, she hated to sleep, she knew that she needed the energy it provided her if she was going to survive on this ship.

Law had itched to harass Yumei after dinner, but refrained. There would be plenty of time for that. Plenty of time for him to pick her brain apart (figuratively, of course) and figure her out. While thinking of how he would next harass the mysterious dancer, Law heard a loud shriek. He lay in bed and listened for a moment before he heard it again. That was definitely from next door—Yumei's room. It sounded as if someone were hurting her. Shooting out of bed, he quickly pulled on some pants before going next door to investigate. What the hell was going on? They were underwater so no one could possibly have gotten in. Was there another stow away? No, someone would have noticed a second one. So why was she screaming? None of the crew would dare to hurt her. He thought that it had been very clear that she was _his_ plaything. And most of them seemed to like her anyway. Doing the zipper on his pants, Law rushed from his room into the one next door.

**A/N: Oh snap! A cliffy! That's right! I am evil! Feel free to flame or leave a nice review. Until next time (which will hopefully be soon)~**


	9. Chapter 9

**[Let's Play Doctor]**

Summary: LAW X OC. Yumei, a dancer running from the men that her boss sold her to, hides on the first ship she sees—too bad it's the Pirate ship of Trafalgar Law, the notorious "Surgeon of Death." What will she do when she realizes that he is a doctor, something she fears the most?

Genre: Romance

Rating: M

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, only my OCs

**A/N:** **Yay! Another Chapter! I am sooooo sorry it took so long to update! I should be ashamed of myself! For real, I should probably be stoned to death or some other punishment with equal or more pain value. My procrastination skills have leveled up I suppose… I can honestly say that I had intended to update earlier, but I got busy AND I wanted to give you longer chapters. In my defense, school was hectic; however, I am on summer break now, so I have plenty of time to write. (Annnd… any form of harassment will probably motivate me, just saying.)**

**On another note, I did edit this, but I didn't have anyone else do so, soooo please excuse any minor mistakes you may find. If I find too many later, I will probably edit it. **

**Also, thanks to everyone who reviewed… and favorite… and alerted me! It really motivates me to write (and makes me as ecstatic as a terrorist with a bomb… or something like that)!**

**CHAPTER 9**

_It was dark, like it always was when he came for her. She couldn't see him, but she knew he was there. She could hear him breathing, getting closer, smell the stench of disinfectant that clung to him. She tried to pretend that she was sleeping, hoping that would deter him, if only for a little longer—but that hope was in vain, she could feel his presence hovering like a miasma over her. He would not wait. _

_Grabbing her by the hair with a dark laugh, the man dragged her seemingly lifeless body from her bed. She didn't scream—no one could hear her anyway and even if they could, they wouldn't be able to save her. She was beyond salvation. She would forever be in his dark grasp._

_It wasn't that she didn't want so struggle, or even that she was dead (though that would be preferable than the hell that she knew was waiting her in the next room); she couldn't struggle. He had made sure of that—he had strapped her down earlier and injected her with the new drug he had been working on—one that paralyzes the victim's body without numbing the senses. It seemed to heighten them—her eyes were overly sensitive as demonstrated by the stinging sensation behind them as he moved her into a bright, white room. Although the light sensitivity could have been caused by any number of the other drugs he had injected into her recently. _

_It was so bright, she couldn't see for a moment as he tossed her motionless body on the cold, metallic table in the center of the room. It smelled like disinfectant—her stomach churned, she thought she might vomit, but she was too terrified to._

_Positioning her body so she was laying on her back, the man stripped her of what little clothes he had allowed her. She could see herself on the ceiling—a mirror. She tried not to watch as he slipped on the latex gloves, a maniacal grin slipping onto his face. Her heart rate sped up as he hooked her up to several machines that would monitor her vitals. _

_He picked up his scalpel and eyed her hungrily before touching the sharp cold blade to her abdomen. He laughed as her blood sprayed from her body, soaking his face and chest with the deep red liquid. She could feel every slash. It hurt, oh did it hurt. She wanted to scream, to die, but he prevented her from doing either._

_With each cut, her soul screamed out. "Somebody help me! Please! Anybody! Help me! I want to die! Just kill me! Anything, just make it stop!" Of course, no one heard her and the blood soaked man continued to slash away at her skin, to dissect her, torture her while she silently cried out for salvation._

0*0*0*0

Flinging open Yumei's bedroom door in noting but a pair of jeans, Trafalgar Law fully intended to murder the bastard that was making her scream the way she was. However, upon entering, he stopped in his tracks. The dancer was alone, writhing on the bed, as if in pain, screaming at the top of her lungs for someone to help her, to kill her, anything to make the pain to stop.

Not wasting any time, Law rushed to her side, flicking on the bedroom light as he went. He sat on the edge of her bed and tried to wake her up as gently as possible. Patting her cheek, Law called out her name. Louder and louder each time, since his voice could barely be heard over her incessant cries.

As sudden as the ear-piercing screams had started, they stopped, dying mid cry. Without her shrieks filling the room, it was easy for one to hear Law call out her name. She woke up then, with terror immediately registering on her face. Harshly shoving and kicking him away, Yumei somehow managed to fall off of the bed, whimpering as she hit the floor. As soon as she ungracefully landed, she proceeded to crawl into the corner by the desk and sit in the fetal position—her legs drawn tightly up to her stomach with her face buried in her knees, and her arms wrapped tightly around herself. Law imagined that her ribs were hurting quite a lot from the pressure about now, which only went to show the magnitude of her terror.

By this time, the whole crew was standing outside of the door with concerned looks on their faces. Kira was the first to speak, a pillow clutched tightly to her chest, "I-is she okay? What happened?" Her long blonde hair was still messy from sleep, her face etched with concern. He noticed that she gripped a wrench in one of her hands—apparently Law hadn't been the only one to think that the dancer was being cruelly murdered.

Law shrugged and then turned his attention to Yumei. She was still in the corner with her face buried in her knees mumbling something to herself while she rocked back and forth. It was a pathetic site to behold. As much as he enjoyed the suffering of others, he hoped that this wouldn't happen on a nightly basis. Being roused from bed in the middle of the night was not on his list of things to do for entertainment.

Standing up, Law instructed the crew. "Watch her, but don't touch her."

"What are you going to do Captain?" Kira asked before he could move past her.

"I am going to go get something that will help her calm down," he answered as he brushed by. It didn't take him long to find what he was looking for as he briskly walked into the infirmary. The dancer wouldn't like his solution, but something had to be done.

Grabbing the small vial and a new sterile syringe with a needle from one of the many drawers, Law quickly returned to Yumei's bedroom. No one had moved. "Everyone can go back to bed." He looked at Kira. "Kiramai, you stay here." Shachi looked as though he might say something so Law added in an authoritative voice, "The rest of you leave. Now." In compliance to their captain's wishes, Penguin, Shachi, and Bepo returned to their room without argument.

He shifted his gaze from them to Kira and then to the corner of the room. "Stay by the door outside of the room." Kira nodded and adjusted her stance so that she was leaning against the wall across from the doorway.

Setting his newly acquired tools on the desk, Law opened the packet containing the syringe and stuck its needle into the top of the vial, drawing the clear liquid into the barrel with the plunger. After ensuring that there were no air bubbles inside of the syringe, he crouched down in front of Yumei.

Now that he was closer, he could see that she was shaking uncontrollably and he could understand some of what she was saying to herself over and over again. "Please… I'm sorry… I'm sorry... No more… It hurts…" Her weak voice was pleading. He gently grabbed her hand and pulled her arm towards him. When he did so her mumbling ceased and all was quiet.

Law didn't give her a chance to look at him. He made a move to plunge the needle into her outstretched arm, however, she didn't let him get that far—she violently slapped the syringe from his hand causing the glass barrel to shatter against the wall. The sudden contact with the hard surface caused it to break into several pieces and scatter across the floor while the liquid contents dribbled down the wall.

Angered by her outburst, Law grabbed her chin to try to force her to look at him. She refused, however, and struggled, keeping her eyes tightly closed. When Yumei tried to slap him, he grabbed her wrist and held her still, forcing her to face toward him once more.

Putting his face right in front of hers, Law spoke, his tone low and threatening, "Look at me and listen. You are going to calm down _now_, otherwise I will _drag_ you into the infirmary and strap you to one of the tables and _make_ you. Do you understand?"

She did not reply, but she did open her eyes to look into his. It was then, as Law angrily glared at her, that he saw the fear. Not the fear of him, but the fear of something else. She wasn't really seeing him. She was still in the past, where terror reigned in her memory. He briefly wondered if she was actually still asleep, acting out her night terror, when she went very still again—her shaking ceased and the supreme terror faded from her eyes. She had regained control of herself. If it weren't for the pieces of the broken syringe laying on the floor, one wouldn't have known anything had happened at all.

Yumei forced her straining muscles to relax and waited for the Dark Doctor to release her. She kept her face an impassive mask. She would not embarrass herself any further in the presence of this doctor. She had already done enough damage—mainly to her already broken ribs. Breathing deeply, she concentrated on slowing her heart rate.

Law slowly released the girl, as he felt the rapid speed of her pulse in her wrist slow. He did not make any move to remove himself from her personal space, however. He wondered how she could cover her panic so quickly and efficiently. She must have had quite a lot of practice. He was curious how she could do so, but also suspicious. There was definitely more to her then she wanted anyone to know, and this only made his resolve to find the truth stronger.

While all of this went on, Kira stood in the hallway, unsure of what to do. Clearly her captain was aggravating the terrified dancer, if the woman's thrashing about was any indication, but it wasn't like she could do anything about it. He _was_ the captain, so he could very well _do_ whatever he pleased. She continued to worry over what her captain might do to the uncooperative woman when she heard her captain hiss a threat to her, which caused the brunette to still. Inching closer to the doorway, Kira strained to hear any words the two might exchange.

Suspiciously narrowing his eyes at the dancer's calmness, the Surgeon of Death questioned her. "Do you get nightmares like that often?"

Lifting her chin derisively she replied, "I don't know what you are talking about."

_So she's going play it that way? Fine, two can play at that game._ Law thought, his signature grin creeping into place. "You can try to hide it all you want, Miss Yumei, but I will find out about you one way or another. You can only run away for so long." Standing up, he looked down at her condescendingly, "You should clean this mess up." Careful not to step on any of the broken glass, the barely dressed doctor left the room to address Kira. "Kiramai, keep an eye on her." The short mechanic nodded as he brushed past her to return to his room, but she really didn't know what to do. She knew that the captain didn't really just want her to 'keep an eye' on Yumei. It wasn't like she could go anywhere. They were underwater for goodness sake! She had a feeling that Captain Law wanted her to provide some sort of girly moral support for the dancer—who now seemed to be fine. He could be a considerate guy sometimes, you know, when he wasn't trying to irreversibly psychologically damage a person—he just did it in his own way. Then again, maybe she was giving the man too much credit.

Kira inwardly sighed and psyched herself up for her 'mission.' It wasn't that she didn't want to give the dancer 'girly moral support,' it was just that she didn't really know how to. She had never been around girls very often, as she grew up around mostly men. Even now, the crew was made up almost entirely of men, so she really had no experience in interacting with other girls. She had never had any female friends before. She was usually so enthralled with machinery that she didn't pay much attention to the kinds of things most girls did, so she had never really been able to connect with other girls. She didn't exactly have the opportunity either, but now that she did… What would she say to Yumei? She really had no clue.

Before Kira could work up the nerve to step into Yumei's room, Yumei stood up—carefully so that she wouldn't bother her ribs too much or step on any of the broken glass—and left the room to walk down the hall. It took a moment for Kira to notice this since she was still trying to think of what two girls might say to one another. Upon realization that Yumei was now halfway down the hall, the blonde mechanic struggled to catch up to the longer-legged brunette, which wasn't saying much because the dancer wasn't what one would consider tall either.

"Yumei-nee! Wait for me!" She called as the woman was about to round the corner. However, instead of slowing down to wait for her, Yumei broke out into a run.

Arriving at her intended destination, Yumei ran into the small room and slammed the door behind her, leaving a breathless Kira to stand alone in the hallway. Not wasting anytime, Yumei rushed to the toilet that sat in the corner of the room and violently vomited the contents of her stomach into the stainless steel bowl. She absolutely hated having those dreams—even though she tried so hard to keep the memories buried, the dreams never failed to resurface them. Couldn't she just have one restful night? One dreamless sleep that was not concussion induced? Why did she continually have to be punished for the past with these dreams? Why was her birth such a curse? Or her spawning or whatever it was that that deranged doctor had done? She hadn't asked to be born!

Kira had caught up with Yumei, just as she slammed the bathroom door in her face. "Are you okay Yumei-nee?" Kira quietly called through the metal door after she could no longer hear the dancer's retching, but her concerned question was met with only silence. "Yumei-nee, do—do you need anything?" Kira was a little worried. What kind of nightmare could upset someone that much?

Several minutes went by as she stood in the hallway alone. Obviously she was not going to receive a reply to her question. So instead of standing uselessly in the hallway, Kira tried to open the door, but of course, it was locked. "Yumei-nee, please answer me. Are you okay?" It was still quiet. She really didn't want to have to resort to threats, but she was leaving her with no choice. Kira was worried. "Yumei-nee, if you don't answer me I will have to pick the lock and let myself in." _Or take the door off of the hinges…_ She silently added to herself.

This threat got a response. "I'm fine…" The dancer rasped. "Just go…"

Kira felt sorry for the dancer; she seemed really upset. But even so, she couldn't leave her. Those were the captain's orders after all.

"I am not leaving. So you can stay in there the rest of the night, but I will be right outside the door waiting for you." Her response was met with silence.

Over a half an hour passed before Kira realized that the dancer really had no intentions of leaving the bathroom anytime soon. Sighing, Kira stood up. She couldn't just sit here. She had to move. To do _something_. Getting an idea, she walked down the hallway set on completing her task before the dancer decided to leave the confines of the bathroom.

Yumei sat with her back to the side of the cold, metallic bathtub, her knees to her chest and her arms wrapped around herself. She squeezed her eyes shut, but then quickly opened them. She couldn't close her eyes without seeing images of the past. She sighed and stared at the tiled floor. Why did she always have to have those dreams? At least it hadn't been _that_ one. That dream had always been the most terrifying. She shook her head, she couldn't let herself think of that or else she would go back to that dark place and she never wanted to be there again. Not _ever_.

0*0*0*0

Kira had returned to her spot outside of the bathroom door quite some time before Yumei had decided to emerge from the room. She'd nearly fallen asleep several times, but each time she jolted herself back awake. It was those stupid dreams people had of falling. Each time she would wake up right before she hit the ground.

Hearing the door handle being fumbled with, she quickly stood up and looked over the dancer standing in the doorway. The woman, she noticed, didn't really look any worse for wear when she finally exited the bathroom, which was a good sign, the young girl decided.

"Yumei-nee, are you alright?"

The only response she received was a slight nod of the head. Partially due to the fact that Yumei was surprised to see that the girl had actually stayed with her outside of the door—she honestly didn't expect her to really stay there all that time, or at all—and partially because she really couldn't muster much else with her current mental state.

Yumei needed to dance. Her head was a mess and dancing was the only thing that would help clear it. So she started for the kitchen. It was the biggest room in the ship other than the captain's quarters and infirmary. Even with the kitchen table, there was still plenty of room to move around. However, she stopped halfway to her destination. She needed to clean up the mess in her room; preferably before the chemicals soaked into the wood—if they hadn't already. Taking a deep breath, Yumei turned around and headed for the supply closet to grab some cleaning supplies.

Kira stopped her before she could even open the door. "If that's to clean up the mess in your room, then don't worry about it. It's already been cleaned up." She flashed her a wide grin. "I did it while you were in the bathroom." She clarified. It was silent for a moment. This girl was helping her more than she realized—more trips to the bathroom probably would have been in order if she had done it herself.

"Thank…you…" Yumei finally said and because she wasn't really sure what else to say, she turned and headed for her initial destination: the kitchen. The urge to dance was nearly overwhelming now; it was an itch she had to scratch. She focused solely on her goal so she didn't notice the mechanic trailing beside her at first.

"Where are we going now?" Kira bounced beside her as they made their way down the hall.

"The kitchen—I need space."

Kira stopped walking beside her and dropped her head. "Oh, sorry…" She said, sounding dejected.

Yumei quickly corrected her. "Oh, no! Not like that. I mean, I need space to dance."

"Oh," The blonde immediately perked up. "Is it okay if I watch you? If you don't want me to, it's okay, it's just that—"

The taller woman laughed. "You can watch."

Kira flashed her that brilliant grin again. "Cool!" The dancer returned the smile, the girl seemed truly pleased. She had never made someone smile so easily before, but she liked it.

Kira ran ahead into the kitchen. "The radio is over here," she motioned to the radio mounted under one of the cabinets. Yumei walked over to her and turned it on, changing the station until she found one she liked. Moving over to the empty area on the other side of the kitchen table, Yumei began to stretch—she didn't want to damage her body further or for her muscles cramp up. She knew that dancing while injured wasn't the best idea, but she couldn't just sit still—it would drive her crazy and crazy wasn't a good idea if she was to be trapped on this sub with the infamous Dark Doctor for the next several days.

Straitening her spin, the brunette closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She patiently waited for the next song to start while she cleared her mind.

While Yumei prepared herself to dance, Kiramai sat at the kitchen table watching intently. She was really excited to see her dance because she had heard Shachi and Penguin raving about it yesterday. She wondered what kind of dance Yumei would do. She didn't really know a whole lot about dancing, so she hadn't the slightest clue as to what the dancer might do. Especially to the music she had chosen. The only dances she could think of for the music playing were the kind that required a partner. Would she ask her to dance with her? She hoped not. Because Kira had never really danced before; the one time she had it ended in her own embarrassment… She had no desire to repeat that experience anytime soon.

As soon as the new song started, Kira noticed the change in Yumei almost immediately. It wasn't that she moved right away—she didn't—it was that every fiber of her being seemed to have honed in on the music and the music alone. When the dancer's body began to move, Kira knew that Yumei felt the same way about dancing as she did about fixing things: it was the reason she got up in the morning, what gave her purpose in her life. It meant everything to her.

0*0*0*0

Kira must have watched Yumei dance for quite some time because before she knew it, the clock told her that it was nearly seven in the morning. The dancer had quite the stamina to be dancing for such an extended period of time. Looking at the clock securely mounted on the wall, the short mechanic realized that she was hungry and her stomach grumbled as if on cue.

Yumei must have heard the noise because she stopped dancing and turned to address her, however, before she got a chance to say anything, someone started clapping. Kira had long since stopped doing so every time the dancer finished a dance because she had been at it for hours, so it wasn't her.

Yumei spun around to look for the source of praise, and to her utter horror, it was none other than the Surgeon of Death himself. His wide grin was ever apparent on his face. She scowled at him. That snarky grin really freaked her out.

He slowly loped towards her. "I didn't get to tell you before because you ran out, but," his grin changed to something more suave that she was sure got him in the graces of many a woman. However, it wouldn't work on her, if only because she was terrified of his status as a doctor. "But you are very talented."

She tried, in vain, not to cringe away from him as he strolled past her to the coffee maker, which he filled with water and coffee grind. Her "thanks" was half-hearted and the only reply she could come up with.

Law turned the coffee maker on and then turned to face his mechanic and the new temporary addition to his crew. Leaning against the counter, he watched as the flustered dancer composed herself before moving to address the short blonde who was apparently hungry, if the grumbling of her stomach was anything to go by. He grinned as he began formulating a new plan to harass the curvaceous brunette.

"Sorry, I kept you so long. You look tired," Kira's stomach rumbled again. Yumei stared at the small teen's stomach and then smiled. The mechanic blushed. "And sound hungry. How about I make some breakfast?"

"You danced for a really long time, Yumei-nee. Are you sure you are up to making breakfast? I can do it if you want…" Yumei tried not to pale at the thought of the inexperienced Kira attempting to make breakfast—she would definitely have to teach her the basics. Granted, the girl did have a valid point, she _had_ danced for a really long time… And, it would definitely come back later to bite her in the ass, but she really needed the stress relief. It wasn't like she hadn't done it before and it wasn't like she had danced until she collapsed. This time. That had happened a lot when she was younger; when _he_ had found out about it, he had broken her legs. It had taken a while for her to work up the courage to get back into dancing after that incident. She inwardly shuddered. She was lucky she could still dance at all after what he had done with her then.

"She is the cook Kira; don't offer to do her job for her." Law slightly scolded his crew member. He really didn't care who cooked, so long as it was edible—he just really wanted to get under the lovely dancer's skin. And, what do you know, it worked. She defiantly lifted up her chin and marched to the kitchen where she began riffling through the cupboards, looking for something to make. "I wouldn't dream of having someone else do my duties for me, _Captain_," She snidely remarked. He just grinned in response. He wasn't going to bore with her anytime soon.

**A/N: Not so much a cliffy, but look forward to the next chapter because I have some juiciness in store for you!**

**Review please! Because me will love you long time ;)**


	10. Chapter 10

**[Let's Play Doctor]**

Summary: LAW X OC. Yumei, a dancer running from the men that her boss sold her to, hides on the first ship she sees—too bad it's the Pirate ship of Trafalgar Law, the notorious "Surgeon of Death." What will she do when she realizes that he is a doctor, something she fears the most?

Genre: Romance

Rating: M

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, only my OCs

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, alerted, and favorited. Makes meh a happy author! I have to say, the reason that it took me so long to post this was because of lack of inspiration, which, by the way, comes to me at the weirdest of times. Like after just getting out of the shower. It was like BAM inspiration! Luckily I had my phone nearby so I just texted myself what I had in my head at the time until I could get to a compy. Jeez. I'm so weird. XD**

**This is the longest chapter ever! 20 pages! I am so proud! Enjoy~!**

**CHAPTER 10**

It had been a few days since the young dancer had intruded upon the Heart Pirates' submarine and they had yet to surface. This, coupled with her sleepless nights that were a courtesy of the most recent nightmare, made those few days hellish for her and made Yumei a bit stir crazy. It didn't help that she had been woken from that horrible night terror in the most frightening of manners—although really, she wasn't sure whether she should curse the Dark Doctor or thank him. Probably both. He had pulled her from her fitful slumber after all, although scaring her half to death afterwards did more hurt than good; at least, that was how she saw it. And then the man's insistence on harassing her every chance he got, which often included going out of his way to do so, really was not helping her current state of mind. The past that was replayed in her dreams was one thing, but the present? That was very tangible and real where she was standing, which happened to be in close proximity to her current nightmare that, coincidentally, wasn't a dream at all, however much she wished him to be.

It was true that the Heart Pirates had been nothing but kind to her since she was discovered (at least in a manner of speaking and if one would discount the "bear attack" and the captain's constant harassment and Penguin and Shachi's harmless flirting… So maybe there were several not so courteous incidents, but that was beside the point—the crew was taking everything in good stride considering the circumstances. Although the flirting did incite great discomfort in the dancer since a certain blonde mechanic tended to get jealous over the attention Yumei was receiving from one penguin-hatted individual and she was afraid that the jealousy would ruin what little semblance of friendship she and the girl had.). However courteous the pirates were being, Yumei still felt a great discontentment around them, most specifically their captain, Trafalgar Law, the so called "Dark Doctor." He didn't do anything per say (admittedly other than the harassment, which may—or may not—have been needed to be taken as threatening to her person). Most of her fear was rooted in the air he held about him, which she aptly deducted as psychotic and dangerous (and if she had bothered to look any deeper, exciting). This air, coupled with the haughty grin that was usually present upon his face, made her wary (and rightfully so, for the doctor was surely not one to be trifled with). He almost reminded her of _that man_, with the stench of disinfectant and latex hanging about him—the scent that could only be equated with another person's misery.

While there hadn't been anymore late night incidents the last few days (meaning he wasn't startled from his sleep in the middle of the night), Law was beginning to suspect that the dancer hadn't been sleeping, if the bags under her eyes and the slowed reaction to his harassment were any indication. Not that he had room to talk—he always seemed to have bags under his eyes from lack of sleep as well. Not that he really meant for that to happen, but he tended to stay up half the night reading up on new medical findings and whatnot and his serious case of insomnia didn't really help matters. He found that reading was a better way to occupy his mind than to just lay in bed and let his mind wander, although that did have its merits from time to time as well. However, he did sleep at night, albeit not a whole lot. That wasn't the point though. It seemed as though it was easier to startle her than before (if that were possible). He could hardly harass her if she was constantly running away from him and avoiding him more than she usually did. It was beginning to become rather annoying and was really threatening to kill his fun. Tired of _this _game, he decided to confront her about it at breakfast where it would be harder for her to escape since she had a duty to perform.

"Miss Yumei," Law purred to the woman from behind the island counter. She jumped a little, but didn't turn from what she was doing at the stove, probably hoping that he would go away if she pretended that she hadn't just heard him. He chuckled under his breath; he wouldn't make it so easy on her.

Waiting a minute for her to get used to his presence—it wouldn't do for her to run away now—and to give her a false sense of hope that he might have decided to leave her alone, the Dark Doctor approached her slowly from behind. However, before he could get too close to her, she turned around, a plate full of pancakes in hand. She seemed to have steeled herself over for his harassment this time because the only sign she showed of being the least bit startled by his presence was the white knuckled hold she had on the hefty looking dish in her hand. His continued approach was more cautious than before after she turned around because with the way her behavior was progressing these last few days, she was liable to try and smack him upside the head with the plate full of hot food.

"Miss Yumei," he addressed her again when he was standing in front of her, succeeding in getting her to actually look up at him. He thought he saw her glare up at him in annoyance or maybe concealed fear, however, if she had, it had come as quickly as it had gone with no trace of it on her face now—her face held a schooled expression that reflected an indifference he was confident that she did not feel. It didn't really matter if she had glared at him anyway—it wasn't as though such a thing could deter him to begin with.

Knowing that it bothered her, Law stepped into the woman's personal space, which caused her to back up and nearly bump into the still hot stove. Not wanting the dancer's lovely skin to be marred because of him—likely due to the fact that he would ultimately be the one to treat the wound and such an incident would only serve to have the girl distance herself further from him, he grabbed her elbow and steered her to the side so that she would bump into the counter instead, which he noted, was covered in a fine sheen of what appeared to be flour.

He was grinning, of course, as he crowded her against the kitchen counter, using his body as a wall to prevent her escape. The plate stacked with pancakes stopped him from getting too much further into her personal space, but with his arms on either side of her resting on the counter, she was essentially caged. Her sleep befuddled mind was easily distracted by his scent however, which didn't carry such a heavy reminder of his profession this morning. He smelled of a freshness that only comes with soap with a hint of spice that was tantalizing to her senses. That's when she noticed that his hat was absent from his head this morning which let her see his rich dark hair that appeared to be still damp—he must have just gotten out of the shower, explaining the fresh soapy smell that she loved; it was a clean smell, but not a nauseating one. A smell that had always helped wash away the scent of blood and whatever else that permeated her skin after she was with _him_. It was one of the few comforts she had when she was younger.

He dragged one finger languidly across the top of the counter before he brought the appendage up between the two of them so he could examine the substance that clung to it. "Messy, aren't we Miss Yumei?" Though her mind was muddled from lack of sleep and his scent, she could still discern his almost condescending tone that was most likely intended to tease her. This caused her to snap out of the trance-like state that he seemed to have put her in.

"I'll clean it up after breakfast," she mumbled in reply.

"That's not the real issue, though, is it, Miss Yumei?" He stated more than asked as he rested he hand back on the counter. Even to Yumei's sleep deprived mind, the way he said her name sounded like an insult. Though one calling an unmarried woman 'miss' might denote some sort of respect, the way he was saying it clearly said otherwise. "Have you been sleeping well these past few days?" he continued. Obviously what he really meant was, "you haven't been sleeping these past few days, have you?" but Yumei's mind was either too foggy from lack of sleep to notice what was implicitly being asked (or rather stated) or she just chose to ignore it altogether. Law, of course, couldn't really be sure which was the case with her. Not that it mattered; he figured that she would lie anyway.

"Just fine," she airily lied, hoping that the man would back off so that she could serve breakfast. He just hummed at that before sauntering away, clearly indicating that he did not believe her in the slightest. Bastard. Why couldn't he just leave her alone in the first place?

0*0*0*0

By the following day, the whole crew had begun to notice the change in the dancer.

"Captain?" Kira tentatively addressed him before dinner with the rest of the crew behind her. "I'm kind of worried about Yumei-nee... She's been acting... err... strange."

The other members of the crew nodded in agreement behind her. Before the short mechanic could say anything else, Shachi interjected, "She's freaking nuts! I was in the bathroom doing my business when she just walks in mumbling to herself about Roger knows what! Like I wasn't there! Then all of a sudden she turns around and stares at me like there's something wrong with me being there. She was the one that walked in on me! Then she started saying all of this weird, creepy shit about how I shouldn't be in there and that if "he" found out I would get hurt. After she left, I went and searched the ship with Bepo and Penguin to see if there was an intruder, but there was no one! I don't even know who she was talking about! She is crazy! Captain, you have to do something! The way she was talking scared the hell out of me! I've been scared to go the bathroom since she did that!"

"Your performance anxiety aside," Law interrupted the ginger haired man before he could continue the rant that was sure to only become increasingly more dramatic.

"I-I don't have performance anxiety!" The man cried. His captain just chuckled darkly at his fierce denial before wisely choosing to ignore him.

"What other behaviors have you noticed?" he addressed the other members of the crew. The doctor was already confident that he knew what the issue was, but he was curious to hear about the woman's sleep deprived antics.

Kira pursed her lips, "Well... She is just seems kind of distracted and generally confused. Right before we came in here, she had wandered into the engine room. I tried to talk to her when I realized she was there—I was doing some maintenance, so I didn't notice her at first. I had to call her name several times to get her attention; it was like she was too distracted to notice me at first and then when she did, it was like she didn't know where we were or who I was. But that seemed to pass quickly when she had a spell of dizziness and almost fell over. I offered to help her, but she just snapped at me. That's when I followed her in here…" She allowed her eyes to drift over to where the brunette was standing in the kitchen—presumably preparing dinner.

"Just figures that as soon as we get an actual attractive female on the ship that she's freaking psycho," Shachi mumbled to himself, his hands in his pockets while he kicked at the ground with the toe of his boot. The short-tempered blonde glared at him for the indirect insult before his shins got reacquainted with the fury of the steel toed boots she was wearing. He cried out in agony (the midget could really do some damage) and fell to the ground already abandoned by his comrades who left him to fend off the enraged girl glaring down at him with her arms crossed in front of her chest by himself. '_Traitors!_' he thought as he pathetically tried to drag his battered body away from the threat, but it was in vain—Kira descended on him like a bird of prey, his choked pleas for help falling on deaf ears.

Ignoring Shachi's plight (which he had brought upon himself), Law continued his inquiry on the dancer's abnormal behavior.

"Captain," Penguin started, trying his best not to look directly at victim or the assailant of the current altercation taking place—looking into either would spell out his death. The former might compel him to actually help his friend, but no way in hell was he going to do that—he quite liked his parts arranged as they already were. If he did the latter? Looking into the eyes of the sadistic beast torturing his friend whose blind fury rivaled that of the captain's… He didn't even want to think of the horrors that occurred the last time he tried to help. He shivered at that. Never. Again. It wasn't that Kira was a bad person per say… She just had a bad temper. And Shachi had a way of bringing out the worst in her.

"I know that we don't exactly know her very well, her only being with us for a few days and all, but it seems to me that she wouldn't be the clumsy type—she has been tripping and running into things a lot. I mean, with her profession and all, tripping over air would be a little…" Penguin continued after he had gotten Law's attention. Bepo nodded in agreement from beside him.

Law shifted his gaze from his penguin-hatted crew member to the jumpsuit wearing bear, "Bepo?"

"Aye captain!" he just looked pointedly at the polar bear, silently asking him to give him any other information.

A look of realization crossed his furry features as it dawned on him what his captain was waiting for. "Fear, captain!" was all the bear said.

In response to this, Law curiously raised an eyebrow, "Fear?"

The white furry being continued on with an explanation, "That's what I smell. Well, sometimes. Like when she is around you, especially after you have been in the infirmary all day. And then when I get too close to her." He looked a bit depressed with that statement. "It is because of the way I look isn't it?" His tone started to take on a hysterical tone at that, so Law figured that he should calm him before he went off on a tangent and cried or something.

"When else?" He prodded.

Getting a hold of himself, he answered. "She really reeked of it when she had that bad dream that woke everyone up a few nights ago. It was bad captain." Law pondered that. What was the mysterious dancer hiding? Before he could think more on that, Bepo added, "There have been times that I have noticed the smell when no one else was around too. At least these last few days. She doesn't really move when that happens, like she is frozen; she doesn't even breathe. I am pretty sure that it wasn't because of me because I don't even think that she noticed that I was there at the time."

"What about that other smell?" The Dark Doctor inquired.

The bear-like beasty looked confused for a moment before the subject that his captain was inquiring about dawned on him. "It's always there. It doesn't go away—it seems like a natural part of her scent, but I've never smelled a human that smelled like that before."

"You've smelled other things that had that scent before?"

He looked thoughtful, "Yeah, but I can't remember what."

"But she is human?"

Bepo started to nod his head, then stopped. He looked thoughtful before shrugging.

'_How intriguing.' _He mused, wide grin on his face in place. _'Human, but not, eh?'_

0*0*0*0

Yumei was oblivious to everything that was going on around her—she didn't even notice that anyone else had entered the galley, let alone that they were talking about her recent actions. She was just having enough trouble trying to concentrate on making dinner—paying attention to anything else would prove to be difficult. Although, it was harder to cook than it usually was. She was dizzy and she swore that she had only picked up one spoon earlier to stir whatever it was she had put into the big pot on the stove. What was in there she couldn't remember, but… Wait, what was she doing again? She noticed that she was holding something and looked to see what she was holding in her hand. It looked like three spoons. She vaguely wondered if they were supposed to help her remember something. What she wasn't exactly sure… She shrugged and turned around to leave the stove top. She didn't get far, however.

"What are you making?" Law asked as he prevented her from moving further away from the stove.

She blinked up at him in confusion. '_Making?'_ Had she been making something?

Noticing her blank stare, Law looked over her shoulder to see for himself. It looked edible…He sure hoped that it tasted that way—he was famished and, to be honest, she looked as though she were thinking too hard about his question, which couldn't be a good sign for the meal.

"Was I making something?" She asked out loud. Definitely not a good sign for the food that they were supposed to eat.

Instead of answering her, he put his hands on her shoulders to turn her around so that she could see for herself when she brought up her hand and hit him in the face with whatever was in it. The whole room got quiet. Frankly, Trafalgar Law, himself was shocked. Had she just smacked him in the face with a spoon? He looked down to refute or confirm this. Yes, it was, indeed, a spoon. A wooden one to be exact. The corner of his mouth twitched.

"Miss Yumei—"

He was interrupted. "Don't call me that!" She huffed at him. She was acting like a child. Although, he had to admit, it was kind of cute the way she puffed out her cheeks and silently fumed at him.

"Then what should I call you?" He hummed to her, slightly annoyed at the demand. She wasn't the captain of this vessel. He was, for a reason. He didn't take direction from others well. He did whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted—on a whim. She was just an exotic dancer from some island that, to her misfortune, happened to end up on his ship.

"My name!" She glared up at him. It was comical, really. She barely came up to his shoulders and yet she was trying to give _him_ orders.

Having had it with her demands, Law narrowed his eyes on her and forced her to back up into the counter_._ He grinned maniacally. Wasn't this déjà vu?

She tried to smack him with the spoon again, but he grabbed her wrist before it could make contact. "I am calling you by your name," he hissed in her ear.

Her anger was not deterred by his scare tactics, however. "No you aren't!" She growled in turn. "You keep calling me 'Miss Yumei'! While the words themselves aren't rude, the way you keep saying them is!" He had to laugh at that, really. It was true that he always added the honorific in a sarcastic manner because, honestly, though he used the term denoting respect, he hardly meant it that way. He more or less used the words as a taunt. And if it bothered her so much, then clearly it was working, but, of course, he already knew that. Seeing the dancer react this way though… Priceless.

Kira had long since finished beating Shachi to a bloody pulp on the floor to teach him a lesson when Yumei had smacked her captain in the face. Admittedly, it was funny and Kira held in her laughter with every ounce of will power she had because hitting the captain, particularly the accurately named Surgeon of Death—pirate captain of the Heart Pirates—was a big no-no. And then when the woman who she first thought of as the enemy yelled at him, she cringed. The captain detested people telling him what to do. Unequivocally hated it. It made him seethe with a lot of deep seated anger. So when he completely crowded the dancer yet again, she panicked a little. Okay. A lot. Trafalgar Law would absolutely not take being talked to that way, but when he started to laugh, in a way that wasn't exactly dark or completely terrifying, she let out the breath she had been holding. Good thing the dancer was more interesting than the captain's urge to kill anything or anyone who tried to order him around; otherwise she might have been murdered already. However, Kiramai wasn't exactly sure how long that would last.

As sudden as the laughing started, it had stopped. Something was wrong. The blonde really hoped that it wasn't because her captain decided to change his mind and commit a homicide in the kitchen.

Law noticed the change as soon as the voluptuous dancer looked away from him. She went from angry enough to hit him to terrified within seconds. It was easy to read from the expressions crossing her facial features—just another thing to indicate that there was, in fact, a problem. She always tried to keep a schooled face on (though it didn't always work out that way). Her breathing hitched after she held it for a minute when the tremors sank in. He suspected that she was hallucinating—her eyes were unfocused, constantly shifting around what she could see of the room. She attempted to struggle out of the grip that he still had on her arm. "Please, just let go of me," Her voice bordered on desperation, so he decided to humor her. After he let go, she quickly tugged her arm back and hugged herself tight. Although her breathing was ragged, and it sounded as if she were swallowing sobs, he could hear her chanting to herself over and over, trying to calm the panic attack that had already reared its head. "It's okay. It's okay. Everything is going to be okay. I'm okay. It's just a hallucination. It _has_ to be," She told herself repeatedly, although not so convincingly.

"This is the last time that I am going to ask you and you will answer me. When was the last time you slept?" He interrupted her self-reassuring chant that was failing miserably. He wanted answers and he was tired of waiting.

She actually decided to grace him with a reply. Wise decision on her part. Although, he didn't think it was intentional. "Since…Four days ago…" She managed to choke out. _'Since that dream,'_ he realized, granted he figured that was the case with the way she had been acting, which made him sigh in frustration. Despite the fact that she seemed to recall the dream (even if she denied it), Law was sure that what she had experienced was a night terror. And if he was right, and he was confident that he was, then depriving herself of sleep would probably only make things worse.

"You need to sleep." It was more of a command than a statement of fact.

"No. No sleeping." Terror was laced with her words.

Law was becoming annoyed. "Well, you can't stay awake. You are having a panicking and hallucinating now because you haven't slept in days."

She whimpered, but didn't take her eyes from whatever it was that she was seeing. "But sleeping is bad. If I sleep, he'll be there. He always is."

"Who is he?" Maybe he would at least be able to get some information out of this.

"I won't tell."

"Why not?"

"I can't. I won't! Please! I told you I wouldn't tell! I won't! I promise! I won't ever tell anyone again!"

She didn't seem to be talking to him. The hallucination maybe? Either way, she was quickly becoming more and more delirious. He needed to calm her down. Law pinched the bridge of his nose and asked, "Is he here now?" trying to be patient. She slowly nodded her head, never taking her eyes away from "him."

"What is he doing?"

He had to strain to hear her whispered response. "Staring at me and smiling."

"Is he talking to you?"

She shook her head. "Just standing there, looking at me."

"Yumei, what else is in the room?"

"I don't know."

"Look around."

It was silent a moment before she answered. She cautiously shifted her eyes from the hallucination. "Fridge," her eyes darted back to the spot the phantom man stood.

"Good. What else?"

She looked next to her. "Stove…Stove," the brunette paused, her hallucination momentarily forgotten. "Stove! The food! It's going to burn! Turn it off quick!" She panicked for a completely different reason now, clumsily trying to turn off the stove top Since Yumei was having such trouble, Law quickly pulled her away from the appliance and turned it off. Unfortunately, he didn't stop her soon enough as she managed to burn her hand.

He heard her hiss in pain before she had a chance to hide the minor injury and grabbed her wrist. Turning the kitchen sink on to a cool temperature, the dark-haired doctor shoved her affected hand under the faucet and held it there (lest she try to escape).

"Kiramai!" He barked to the girl. "Go get the first aid kit!" The petite mechanic nodded and scurried off to do her captain's bidding. Law then shifted his gaze to Penguin, "Finish dinner!" He directed.

Before he could say anything else, the exhausted dancer interjected, "But I can—"

"No you can't." He firmly replied as she struggled from his iron grip that kept her hand under the running water.

"But!"

"No buts! I am the captain of this ship and you will do what I say!" She opened her mouth to argue, but he cut her off. "'No' means 'no,' woman. Now shut-up and do as I say." The man was beginning to feel exasperated. She was being so stubborn!

Instead of continuing to argue over a losing battle, Yumei bit her lip and took to fiercely glaring at the fist holding her hand under the cool water. She wasn't a child! She could take care of a little burn. It wasn't even that big of a deal!

Not paying any further attention to the once again fuming dancer beside him after she grew quiet, Law looked from Bepo to the pathetic lump on the floor. "Help Shachi to the table, Bepo."

"Aye, captain!" The white bear called before doing what was asked of him, which consisted of him none to gently hefting the man up by the back of his jumpsuit and dropping him in one of the stools at the table.

It was at this point that Kira returned with the first aid kit. Law motioned for her to set it on the dining table and proceeded to drag Yumei from the sink to said table where he forced her to sit in one of the stools bolted to the floor. Sitting next to her, he gently turned her hand so that he could see the burn. Opening the white and red first aid kit, the doctor carefully applied some ointment to the wound and then wrapped it securely with gauze. "You really have a knack for injuring yourself," he commented with his signature grin in place.

"You really have a knack for pissing people off," was her retort. Obviously she was still angry.

He grinned down at her as he stood up to get the first aid kit out of the way and to move to his chair. "Well, I try."

She just turned to face a bowl of the food she made as it was placed in front of her. Kira plopped down on the stool next to hers with a bowl of her own. "Are you alright now, Yumei-nee?"

"I'm fine," she lied wearing a fake smile.

"Do you make a habit of lying to your hosts, Miss Yumei?" Law asked her with mirth in his eyes as he rested his chin in one of his hands, elbow on the table.

She tried to keep her face impassive as she turned to look at the man who called her on the lie. "I _am_ fine," she gritted through her clenched teeth. The way she said it wasn't helping her case, but he pissed her off—he still insisted on using that condescending tone and the honorific.

"No you aren't. You haven't slept in the past four days. You have had several panic attacks, bouts of confusion, and hallucinated. Let's not forget the burn on your hand." He dared her to deny it, it would make victory that much sweeter. She didn't say anything though, so he trekked on. "You need to sleep and quite frankly I can make you. So it's either voluntary or involuntary, but you _will_ do it." He could have mentioned how she would probably have another night terror because of the four days of depriving herself of sleep, but by the look on her face, he was certain that she already knew that.

Her sigh of defeat lifted the awkward silence that had befallen the room. She didn't need to say anything. He knew he had her.

"So…" Shachi poked around at the food with his spoon. "What exactly is this? You didn't poison it did you?" He eyed the woman on the other side of the table suspiciously. After the bathroom incident, he was rather wary of her.

"It's goulash… Is there a reason I should poison your food?"

Shachi poked it around in the bowl some more. "You try it first," he mumbled.

She complied. Even if she was totally out of it when she made it, there was no way that she would poison it… Probably. She took a bite, making sure Shachi saw. He nodded in response before taking a tentative bite himself. His eye brows rose in surprise. It wasn't that bad.

"Where did you learn to make it?" Penguin curiously inquired after eating some as well.

"I travel a lot… so I just picked it up at one of the places I used to work..." she didn't say anything else.

"Where have you been?" Kira asked, genuinely interested.

Yumei tried not to laugh nervously. "A little bit of everywhere I guess. I never tend to stay in one place too long."

This caught Law's attention. "Why all of the travelling?"

"Wanderlust, I suppose." She replied with only a hint of hesitation.

'_What a good little liar you are.'_ He thought to himself.

0*0*0*0

Yumei was mostly silent for the rest of dinner, mulling over the fact that, tonight, she would be sleeping. Whether she like it or not. Occasionally the conversation at the table would shift back to her and her travelling, but she easily changed the subject and deflected attention from herself. She wasn't very hungry and only poked at her food for the most part. That is, until Law noticed and chose to say something to her. She forced herself to eat after that, just so he would leave her alone.

As the end of the meal drew near, Law could tell that the dancer became more and more nervous. Probably at the prospect of sleeping. He grinned. He just thought of a great way to harass her further and entertain him more. "Miss Yumei," he said to her as everyone started to clean off the table. Kira offered to do dishes since the dancer had hurt her hand, so there was no excuse for her to escape. "You have two choices for sleeping arrangements tonight: either I strap you to one of the infirmary tables and forcefully induce sleep or," he continued, watching as her spine stiffened at the thought of the first choice. "You can sleep in my room without the aid of drugs."

"Your room?" Her voice sounded unusually high to her.

"Good choice." He knew she wasn't giving an answer, just merely inquiring about the choice itself, but he couldn't help himself. He was just too entertained at the prospect of either; and giving her a hard time made it so much more satisfying.

"Wait!" She called out to him as he stood from the table. "What do you mean your room? I have one! I will sleep there!"

"No you won't because quite frankly, I do not enjoy being woken up in the middle of the night thinking that one of my crewmates is being murdered. It will be easier to quiet you if you are right beside me than in another room. So take your pick. Infirmary or my bed."

Indecision played across her face. And fear, but he really didn't give a damn. He did not want to go through such a big ordeal in the middle of the night again.

Yumei thought about it. She couldn't just sleep in that man's bed. Next to him. A doctor of all people! And it's not to say that she would even if he wasn't one, but still… And then the infirmary! She couldn't do that either! It made her nauseous just thinking about it. And being strapped down and drugged. Not ever again. There was no way she would do that. It would kill her. What was she supposed to do?

"Make up your mind or I'll do it for you." He urged.

She panicked. What should she do? What should she do? Sleep in his room? In his bed? She couldn't! But… It wasn't that she had anything against him personally (so maybe she _was_ starting to have something against him, but who could blame her with all of the harassment?). But, she didn't trust him, not because he was a pirate, but because she never trusted anyone in general—men in particular and especially never any doctors.

He could be using this as a trap to hurt her and while, yes, he could have done so before, he seemed like the type to toy with his victims first… Crap! She couldn't go into the infirmary though. No. Way. In. Hell. She'd choose the lesser of two evils, but in this case, there wasn't one. Should she take a leap of faith in humanity? In a pirate? Oh God! What the hell was she thinking? Although, it wasn't like there would be much, if anything that he could do to her that hadn't already been done…

"Your room," she sighed sadly, resigned to whatever fate that might befall her.

0*0*0*0

It was awkward. He generously let her use the shower in his room first and gave her a change of clothes that happened to be one of his t-shirts and a pair of his shorts. She was swimming in both.

She stared at the bed for what felt like eternity before she climbed into it. Really it had only been like five minutes because Law was still in the bathroom when she finally did decide to get in between the soft sheets.

A few minutes later, Yumei was still awake. She couldn't sleep. She was nervous. What if that doctor tried something? She shook her head, she couldn't think like that! Because obviously if he did, she wouldn't really be able to escape or defend herself that well…

"You're still awake?" Law asked as he walked out of the bathroom towel drying his dark hair. The tattoos on his arms moved when he flexed his muscles.

"W-where are your clothes!" she sputtered at his naked chest—he was only wearing a pair of shorts, much like the ones he had given her to wear.

"Would you rather I slept completely naked?" He slyly smirked at her.

"N-no!"

"Then don't complain and move over."

"W-why?" She stuttered again.

"Because that is my side of the bed you are on and I am tired. Now move it." He commanded, throwing the towel into the bathroom before climbing into his nice big bed.

Yumei scooted as far away as she could from the half-naked man, which effectively landed her on the edge of the bed. But she didn't care, as long as he stayed where he was.

He turned off the lamp on the table by the bed and sighed. It was quiet for a moment before he spoke. "What are you doing Yumei?" His voice wasn't so condescending when he said her name this time—he even dropped the honorific that she hated.

"Trying to sleep." She as innocently as she could.

"How can you sleep on the edge of the bed like that? This bed is huge. Come closer." He all but growled.

She barely moved an inch, so he put his arm around her waist with the intention to pull her away from the edge. However, it didn't work out that way as the sudden contact startled the woman and she shoved harshly at his chest. "Let me go!" The movement caused the both of them to topple off of the bed. He would have landed on top of her if she hadn't scrambled out of the way in time.

Righting himself from the position he had fallen in, Law threw back the covers. "Get in the damn bed and sleep."

She squeaked and did as he said when he made a move to grab her.

"I'll be back later," was the last thing he said before he left the room with the slam of his door. She cringed at the loud noise, but didn't say anything. Yumei just tried to settle herself on "her" side of the bed before drifting off for some much needed sleep.


	11. Chapter 11

10

**[Let's Play Doctor]**

Summary: LAW X OC. Yumei, a dancer running from the men that her boss sold her to, hides on the first ship she sees—too bad it's the Pirate ship of Trafalgar Law, the notorious "Surgeon of Death." What will she do when she realizes that he is a doctor, something she fears the most?

Genre: Romance

Rating: M

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, only my OCs

A/N: Updating fail… I should probably just stop even trying to set goals for myself like this… Anyway, sorry this is so short… I'll update when I can, but I have a hectic semester to say the least, so yeah. Anyway! Thanks to everyone who favorited, alerted, and reviewed! You are the reason I continue to update! I love you all! Enjoy~!

**CHAPTER 11**

Yumei always wished that she couldn't see in her dreams because, then, at least, she wouldn't see him coming for her. Seeing him terrified her. Petrified her every time. She couldn't scream because the air always left her lungs—at least that was how it felt for her in her drams. She couldn't even breathe and that made it all the worse; she felt as though she were suffocating, drowning within herself. She only saw him, only felt him. Even the thought of him sent her stomach churning.

_He was there. Just an imposing shadow in the corner of the room, but there. It was dark, but not so dark that she couldn't tell who it was. Not so dark that she couldn't see his leering face, grinning at her—his teeth too bright a white. The psychotic grin on his face a testament to how far gone his grip on reality really was. His eyes were glinting with a terrifying perversion that wasn't completely sexual._

"_I found her." He growled out. He was angry._

_The young girl panicked at that statement, but tried desperately to hide it. She knew that she wouldn't be the only one to be punished for what she had done now. That fact killed her inside. She had only wanted to help that poor woman he had kidnapped and tortured. She should have known better—things never turned out right when she tried to help. _

"_You thought you were clever? Helping a specimen to escape while I was gone?" He bit out at her—he didn't want to hear her answer though, so she didn't reply. In reality though, she didn't think it was a clever thing to do at all—it was an incredibly stupid decision on her part. Of course he would notice one of his subjects went missing, but she couldn't just do _nothing. _Not after she found out what he was doing to those innocent people. The things he had done were things that a human should never do to another. Ever. Innocent or otherwise. Then again. He couldn't really be considered a human anymore. Not after what he had done. _

_And as the man in the white coat loomed over her, she knew that whatever punishment he had in mind for her and the woman would be far worse than death. _

_When had he gotten so close? She didn't have time to react to the close proximity, however, as he roughly grabbed her arm and dragged her out of her makeshift bed. "I am going to make you wish that you were never born!" He snickered at her. Would he? She was pretty sure that he had done that long ago. _

_She didn't even try to fight against him as he forced her down the hallway—it would only make things that much worse if she dared to try. However, as the duo neared the room that she was all too familiar with, she began to struggle. The act was involuntary; it was her fight or flight instinct kicking in as she clawed at the hand gripping her arm. She didn't even want to contemplate the horrors that he would undoubtedly make her witness._

_Tired of her disobedience, the man threw her to the ground and kicked her in the abdomen, over and over until she stopped struggling. He picked her up by her hair and shook her, forcing her to look at him. He didn't have to say anything as he let her go and led her into the room. The girl had to fight to get her feet moving—every fiber of her being was screaming for her to run and never look back, but she couldn't do that because, ultimately, he would catch her and then, she would be facing a punishment far worse than the one at hand._

_The man obviously suspected that she might bolt, so he led the girl to a table perpendicular to the one in the center of the room. After restraining her to the table, he tilted it so that she was upright and had a view of the other table. _

"_Time to wake up!" He sang to the woman whose naked body lay still on the metallic table in the center of the room before pouring a bucket of icy water onto her.__ He laughed as her body jerked __against the restraints that kept her body from leaping off the table__ as she regained consciousness._

_ The woman's eyes wildly looked about the room. Bouncing from the "doctor's" form to the bright lights to the blood stained walls and then finally to the young girl strapped to the table next to her._

_The young girl's eyes widened in horror at the realization of what the man in the white coat was going to do. He was going to make her… watch__ . Watch what he did to someone else. It wouldn't be her today. It was at that moment that she hated herself more than ever. How could she dare feel that way? That poor woman would be brutalized in the most heinous of ways and she felt slightly relieved? She was worse than the piece of trash he called her every day. However, that feeling of self-loathing didn't last long._

_What the man in the white coat did next, would forever haunt her. The woman's screams, echoing off the walls, would never leave her. For the first time in a long time, she cried. For the unfortunate woman and for herself—for the life that she was born into and could never escape. _

Law woke up. Something was wrong. He couldn't quite figure out what it was at first—it was just something in the air. A deadly quiet that was out of place. That was what tipped him off. There were supposed to be two people in his room. Where was the woman's breathing? She had been here when he had returned a few hours earlier to get some much needed rest after he was certain that she was had fallen asleep. Sitting up, he roamed his hand over the surface of the bed, searching for the other body. It didn't take long for him to find her. She was nearly an arm's length away from him and when his hand brushed her arm, she shuddered and gasped for oxygen like she hadn't been breathing.

Law sat up and turned on his bedside light. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he looked over at the dancer to inspect her state. Definitely another night terror. Her eyes were open wide and her mouth was opening and closing in a silent plea as she gasped for air, violently tearing at the sheets. She looked like a fish out of water.

Deciding that it was best to wake her up so that she wouldn't start hyperventilating, Law put his hand on her shoulder and gently tried to shake her awake. His head was resting on his hand that he had propped up on his knee as he watched her and waited to see what her reaction would be this time. He didn't have to wait long, as his efforts to wake her were quickly rewarded.

Yumei woke up obviously startled and maybe even a little bit relieved. However, waking up in a strange room that was not hers staunched any relief she may have felt. Noting the tell tale signs of the dancer's panic, Law tugged on her wrist so that she couldn't launch herself off the bed like she had done last time. Because damn, the woman was lucky that she hadn't punctured a lung yet with all of her jumping around. Since he was holding her wrist, Law took the opportunity to take her pulse. It was still fast and irregular, but he could feel it beginning to slow down ever so subtly.

Law watched the expressions play across the young woman's face as he measured her pulse. Confusion and panic battled it out until something completely different took over as she seemed to fully get a grip on consciousness—her skin paled and she looked positively nauseated, so when she went to pull her wrist from his grasp, he did not hesitate to let her go. After all, vomit all over his bed sheets was not something he wanted to deal with at this hour. He watched her sprint from the bed to the bathroom where she proceeded to violently empty the contents of her stomach into the toilet.

Sliding himself out from under the sheets and off the bed, Law trudged over to the open doorway of the bathroom. Standing right outside of the darkened room, he listened to Yumei's retching die down before he heard the sink turn on. Her form hunched over the sink, presumably for her to rinse her mouth out. Instead of turning the faucet off once she was done, Yumei left it on. Realizing that this was her attempt to conceal her quiet sobs, Law went to enter the room, only for her to attempt to prevent him from doing so by swinging the door closed. She didn't succeed at closing him out, however, as he firmly grabbed the door to stop it from connecting with the frame. Upset that the door didn't shut as planned, Yumei left the sink to fully throw her body weight against the door in order to shut it. The battle between the two didn't last long since Law was obviously the stronger of the two. He bullied his way into the door and flipped on the light. They both squinted momentarily as their eyes struggled to adjust to the sudden brightness.

Quickly turning around, Yumei swiftly swiped her hand across her face, trying to wipe away the fallen tears. However, it didn't do her any good. The tears just kept coming. She let out a frustrated breath. Why did she have to cry now? In front of _him_ of all people? She didn't cry. Well at least she hadn't since _then_. She sniffed to hold back a sob. _That dream_. She hadn't had it in a while and she would have preferred to have kept it that way. While it may not have been the worst of her dreams, it was by far the most disturbing for her. That time. Those moments had been… She supposed that they were a sort of turning point for her, what that event had led up to. She shuddered inwardly. She would not think about it now.

Turning her attention to the current problem in the room (aka Trafalgar Law), Yumei furiously swiped at her tear streaked face once again—although it was still to no avail—and addressed the Dark Doctor with a rather course voice. "What do you want?" She demanded of him, angry at herself for showing such weakness as to cry in front of him.

"You have some nerve to talk to someone like that when you are in their bathroom," he quipped, miffed the tone she had taken with him.

Her lips formed a thin line as she narrowed her eyes and clenched her fists. She struggled to hold back a sob threatening to burst from her chest. Did he have to harass her now? She just wanted to be left alone.

A hiccup escaped past her lips and she tried to stifle it with the back of her hand. She could _not_ do this right now. Period. She would _not_ do this. But the tears just kept coming. And then the image of that woman strapped to the table flashed across her memory. After that she broke down. It didn't matter that she wasn't alone. That she wasn't supposed to cry. Because all she could think about, the only thing she could see, was that woman, on that table, in that room, and the look in her eyes. God, the look in that woman's eyes… And her screams…

Yumei sank to the floor, her hands covering her ears and her eyes closed tight. What had she done?

Law watched as the dancer's shoulder shook with her sobs. It quite a pathetic sight to see her like that. She looked a lot smaller than she actually was then and he felt a sudden twinge of something in his chest. It was a peculiar feeling. He wasn't sure what exactly it was and that bothered him. He needed to know. One thing was for sure though: whatever that feeling was, it had to do with the young woman currently falling apart on his bathroom floor.

Law watched her for a moment before he decided his course of action. He was curious about this feeling he found that he had toward her. The feeling was different than the curiosity he usually felt. Not knowing what the feeling was made him want to dissect it until he knew everything about it. But dissecting a feeling was more difficult than dissecting a person. It presented a challenge for him. He grinned to himself. He liked a challenge.

Approaching the dancer who was still sobbing quietly on the floor, he figured the best way to get to know the strange feeling growing within himself was to get close to her. And if he were to be completely honest with himself, he didn't really enjoy seeing her in her current state as he would with almost anyone else, which was a bit disturbing. Usually when he saw weakness of any kind he wanted to exploit it and crush the person exhibiting it. And yet, watching this woman, he knew that she was not weak, or at least she tried very hard not to be. But whichever it was, he was curious as to how things would turn out for her.

Yumei knew he was in front of her the second he stopped and crouched down. She wanted to make him go away, but when she went to push at him, he grabbed her and pulled her to his chest. She didn't have the strength to try to get away, so she just sobbed into his chest, secretly enjoying the comfort and warmth that he was offering her.

"What have I done?" She cried into his chest, something that surprised Law. Ever since they had met, she had been trying to avoid him; and now? She clung to him like a life support.

He wasn't sure how long that they sat on the floor like that, with her in his arms, but eventually she fell asleep snuggled against his chest. Getting up, carefully so as not to wake the now peacefully sleeping dancer, Law carried her back to his bed. Law fully intended to lay her on "her" side of the bed, however, when he went to do so, she refused to release him. He smirked. He _should_ probably force her to let go and sleep on the other side of the bed, but then he wouldn't have the joy of seeing the expression on her face in the morning.

0*0*0*0

Yumei awoke feeling fully rested and safe—a feeling that she had never experienced before. She relished it. That was until she tried to move and realized that something constrained her from doing so. She wrinkled her eyebrows in confusion. With her eyes still closed, she moved her hand up the rock hard, warm surface that it had been resting upon until she touched what felt to be a chin. Panicking at the realization that she was next to a person and not by herself, her eyes flew open, only for her to find herself confronting the tan bare chest of a man. The bits and pieces of the night before rushed back to her and she arrived at the conclusion that she was pressed flush against the dark doctor himself.

Eyes slowly rising to look at his face, she realized that he was awake... With a smirk in place. One that was directed at her. A blush crept to her cheeks, to which she silently cursed herself for—she constantly found her guard slipping around this man. And that's what scared her. He was a pirate. A criminal. A _doctor._

Now bothered by their close proximity, she attempted to move herself away. However, with his arm snaked around her waist, a fact that she had fail to notice until this moment, it proved rather difficult to do so.

"Please let me go," she said as she struggled to remove herself from him.

He stared at her with his stormy grey eyes for a moment before he straightly replied. "No."

"Wha—what do you mean 'no'!?" His answer irked her. What nerve he had!

"No means no. I don't feel like letting go. I am still tired, thanks to _someone_ keeping me up most of the night." Law pointedly looked at her before he laid his head back on his pillow and pulled her closer, leaving no room for her to escape.

"I thought we agreed that we would keep our distance!" Yumei's cheeks flamed. How could she let this man have this effect on her?

"I never agreed to anything." He mumbled tiredly. "Besides," he smirked devilishly, "_you_ were the one who desperately clung to me in the middle of the night."

Her blush deepened as she became even more flustered. "I—I did no such thing!"

He moved his face in directly in front of hers. She could feel his breath on her already overheated cheeks. "Oh really?"

At her slight nod, Law invaded what was left of her personal space, forcing her to roll onto her back to regain some of it. However, he just rolled with her, letting his body hover just over hers. With their mouths a mere breath apart, it occurred to him that he wanted to taste her lips. She seemed to have realized what he was thinking this because the atmosphere instantly changed between them. She went from flustered and annoyed to scared and confused. Sighing, he pulled away from her and flopped back onto the bed, throwing his forearm over his eyes. Scaring her hadn't been his intention.

Law listened to her scramble from his bed in her receding panic and head for the door. "So you don't mind if the rest of the crew sees you in _my _clothes? How bold." He couldn't help but smirk when he heard her change her intended direction and step into the bathroom.

0*0*0*0

Yumei quickly cleaned herself up and changed before she cautiously left the bathroom. She glanced over to the bed and noticed that Law was sleeping. She took a few steps closer to study him. Though his face was half covered with his arm, she could still see that he seemed to take on a more boyish appearance while he was sleeping. There was no sarcastic smirk and the hard lines of his face seemed to soften. A ghost of a smile appeared on her lips; he was kind of cute like this.

At the realization that she was ogling _the _Trafalgar Law, Yumei abruptly berated herself. What was she thinking? He was the Dark Doctor for Roger's sake! She couldn't think such things about him! It didn't matter that the sunlight streaming through the curtains of the small window above his head made his sleeping form that much more radiant, she would not allow herself to think such treacherous thoughts. He was the enemy. He was—wait.

Sunlight? She blinked and then stared at Law's forearm. She had been certain that they were fairly deep underwater, too deep for sunlight to filter in. She pulled back one side of the curtain and looked out the window to see that they were, in fact, not deep underwater, but just under the surface. Excited about the prospect of seeing actual sunlight, she quickly, albeit quietly, left the room.

**A/N: Abrubt end? Probably. **

**Please review! I want criticism! Or, if you prefer, a short message of how awesome I am (just kidding!). **


	12. Chapter 12

**[Let's Play Doctor]**

Summary: LAW X OC. Yumei, a dancer running from the men that her boss sold her to, hides on the first ship she sees—too bad it's the Pirate ship of Trafalgar Law, the notorious "Surgeon of Death." What will she do when she realizes that he is a doctor, something she fears the most?

Genre: Romance

Rating: M

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, only my OCs

**A/N: Wow… Sorry about the suuuuuper late update. So lame of me to take so long. -_-'**

**I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for their reviews and ideas (and telling me how awesome I am—I was mostly joking you know)! I love you all! Here's a recap since it's been a while (if you guys like the recaps, I can continue to put them in the chapters, just let me know):**

_At the realization that she was ogling the Trafalgar Law, Yumei abruptly berated herself. What was she thinking? He was the Dark Doctor for Roger's sake! She couldn't think such things about him! It didn't matter that the sunlight streaming through the curtains of the small window above his head made his sleeping form that much more radiant, she would not allow herself to think such treacherous thoughts. He was the enemy. He was—wait._

_Sunlight? She blinked and then stared at Law's forearm. She had been certain that they were fairly deep underwater, too deep for sunlight to filter in. She pulled back one side of the curtain and looked out the window to see that they were, in fact, not deep underwater, but just under the surface. Excited about the prospect of seeing actual sunlight, she quickly, albeit quietly, left the room._

**CHAPTER 12**

Whilst the morning had started out in a less than savory way (she refused to admit otherwise), Yumei was excited at the prospect of feeling actual sunshine kiss her skin and breathing in fresh ocean air. Of finally being out in the open again after being inside the submarine for so long.

It wasn't that the sub was too small—she just hated being confined in an enclosed space for too long, especially an enclosed space with no real way out since they had been submerged deep underwater for the last few days. She had a distaste for enclosed spaces; it was no wonder—considering her past and her profession—that she much preferred wide, open spaces where she could move freely. This was why she had come to adore the ocean so much—it was so vast it seemed never-ending with no walls and nothing to restrict her.

Thrilled at the thought of being outside surrounded by nothing but the expanse of the ocean, she hummed quietly to herself as she skipped down the hallway toward the navigation room. She hoped she would find at least one of the crew members there so that she could find out when they were resurfacing.

As she strolled into the room, Yumei was greeted by Penguin. "Good morning Yumei-chan!" he flashed a cheesy grin as he turned away from one of the many consoles in the room. "How are you feeling this morning? Are you okay? Did you get enough sleep?" He inquired, sounding like he genuinely cared. As he spoke to her, she noticed Shachi beginning to stir from his half-asleep state in one of the chairs on the other side of the room.

"Good morning… I'm fine…" She replied distractedly. There were so many machines in the room, flashing different colors, but what really caught her eye were the multitude of portholes allowing the water-filtered sunlight into the circular room.

Noticing that she was distracted, Penguin turned to see what she was looking at. "Ah, you're wondering about the sunlight, right?"

Yumei nodded her head. "Are we resurfacing soon?"

He smiled at the excited anticipation that the heard her trying to contain. "Yep. Bepo's been complaining non-stop for the last couple of days about it. About how it's so hot and that he is a polar bear and polar bears aren't made for heat and that if he has to wait for fresh, cool air any longer he will die, or at the very least get his bear sweat all over MY bunk. AND he threatened that he would puke from heat stroke all over my stuff! Can you believe him? It's not like I control when we resurface! It's all up to Captain Law! I am so tired of him getting his bear sweat all over the place!" Seeing that the dancer was a bit taken aback by his answer turned rant, he finished by saying, "Anyway, we're just waiting for the Captain to give us orders to breach water."

Shachi cautiously approached the lovely, but (what her thought to be) unhinged woman and his friend as he heard Penguin inadvertently attack the young woman with complaints about the sweaty bear. He couldn't blame his penguin-hatted companion though; Bepo often complained about the heat in the sub when they were near underwater volcanoes and then, in an attempt to have his two crewmates share his pain, he would shake his sweat all over them. It drove them both crazy—no one wanted to smell like sweaty bear—it was gross. And totally offended the ladies. He swore, one day he was going to shave the whiny, bipedal bear and put everyone out of their misery. One day…

When he was closer, the dancer shifted her attention to him. That was when he stopped. He didn't want to get any closer to her, just in case she didn't have a grip on reality. Narrowing his eyes at her suspiciously (though one wouldn't be able to see it since he was wearing his sunglasses as per usual), he warily inquired about her well-being. "Are you better today? Or are you gonna start freaking out again?"

Yumei blushed at the inquiry and looked away. Dammit, she shouldn't have let that first nightmare get her so out of sorts. She had let her defenses fall and was showing a weaker side to herself that she tried so desperately to hide. It was pathetic.

"She's fine Shachi. Don't be mean to her just because she walked in on you taking a piss."

Her blush deepened and she kept her gaze firmly on the floor. She had done that? What else had she done? She couldn't remember. Most of the day before was pretty fuzzy. It was probably the sleep deprivation. She really had to stop letting herself go for so many days without sleep.

Before Shachi could comment, Bepo entered the room and did the honors for his crewmate, "Are you still feeling sensitive about your performance anxiety?" He asked in a half-whisper and then continued on to say, "You know, bears don't have that problem…"

Bepo was barely able to finish his sentence as Shachi attacked, kicking the bear in the side (which had little effect) before pouncing on the bear's back and wrapping his arms around his neck. "Shut up! You stupid bear!"

Though a chorus of melancholy _sorry_s left the polar bear's mouth, Shachi did not relent. "Why does everyone have to go on about me having 'performance anxiety'?" He ranted. "You would be freaked out too if some chick just came into the bathroom while you were doing your business and started rambling about weird shit!"

Upon noticing the bear's entry, Yumei discretely scooted herself away from him and the entryway; this turned out to be a good thing since Kira came prancing into the room only to tackle Penguin. This also effectively snapped her out of her self-berating for the time being.

"Oh Pengi-pi!" The petit blonde cooed dramatically, "Did you sleep well, my darling?" Penguin seemed completely uncomfortable with the girl's demeanor toward him and tried, in vain, to pry her deathly grip off of him. He didn't have to try for long, however, as she soon noticed Yumei slowly scooting herself away from the group. "Yumei-nee!" She called, releasing the penguin-hatted man. "You're awake! How do you feel? Better?" Yumei could barely reply with a nod before the girl continued. "You sure look a lot better! Thank goodness! I was really worried!"

"I'm sure she _does_ feel a lot better," Shachi added, still hanging onto Bepo's back. "She slept with the Captain after all," he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Kira abruptly turned on him, "Don't say stuff like that! The Captain's a nice guy! He wouldn't—"

"Wouldn't what? Take advantage of her? Captain's a hot-blooded male! And Crazy over there is undoubtedly attractive!" He pointed to Yumei as he jumped off of Bepo's back. "And anyway! He wouldn't have to take advantage of her! Captain's popular with all the ladies! He could easily seduce her!" Shachi exclaimed proudly.

Kira, who was standing next to a blushing Yumei, was getting angrier and angrier with every word Shachi said.

"Man! The Captain's so lucky!" The casquette-hatted martial artist lamented jealously. "There's finally an actual female on board and Captain gets her all to himself!"

"SHUT UP YOU STUPID CHAUVANISTIC PIG!" Kiramai finally snapped. "WOMEN ARE MORE THAN A PIECE OF ASS! You—you ASS!" She yelled irately and kicked him right in his manhood. He dropped like a rock. "STOP THINKING WITH YOUR DICK!" She screamed as she dealt a blow to his side. "I SURE AS HELL KNOW THAT THE CAPTAIN DOESN'T!" At least, she was fairly certain of that. "AND WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY 'ACTUAL FEMALE'!? HUH!?" She kicked the downed man who was still frothing at the mouth from the first blow onto his stomach. "I'M A FEMALE!"

At this point, Bepo and Penguin were cowering behind the only thing that stood a chance against Kira's merciless assault: Yumei. The two were sweating uncontrollably. If Shachi could just keep his mouth shut, he just might live to see another day.

However, Shachi found just enough strength to see through his pain and respond to the furious demon's inquiry. "Y—you're… You're a… tomboy grease monkey… I can't count you as a woman…" And that was the last straw, the other three people in the room knew, as the livid blonde lifted her leg in the air in order to deal the final, most painful blow. She glared mercilessly into his resolved, but slowly glazing over eyes, her steel-toed boot hovering dangerously over his groin. '_Farwell_,' Penguin and Bepo cried quietly to their brave, but undeniably brainless friend.

Yumei wasn't sure what to do. Shachi hadn't had any real malice in his words, but Kira's anger was understandable. However, she didn't want the girl to kill a crewmate because of her, especially since she was used to such comments. Though, she had the feeling that the words toward her were not the ones that made the mechanic snap. No, the real kicker (literally) had been the indirect blow to the blonde's femininity. It really seemed to be a sore subject for the girl.

Before the dancer could say or do anything to save the life of the ginger-haired Heart Pirate, an ominous voice commanded from the doorway, "Please refrain from beating him by the expensive equipment. Do it outside when we resurface."

The voice, which gave Yumei and the whole crew chills, came from none other than the Dark Doctor as he leaned on the doorway with a black and most horrifying aura surrounding him. At that moment the Heart Pirates knew they had truly angered their Captain and that one wrong move could spell the most gruesome demise imaginable. "Y—Yes Captain!" Kira sputtered as she saluted him. Sweat poured down her brow as she tried to keep a placating grin in place. Even the nearly incapacitated Shachi, who was still lying on the ground, attempted to sit up and salute his captain. Though the sitting was rather difficult considering the damage Kira had dealt with the first blow, let alone the following ones. "Aye… Captain…" He moaned weakly as he fell to the metallic floor when Kira kicked him in the leg one last time for spite.

Law did not move from his position in the doorway as everyone stood frozen in their spots in the navigation room, waiting for him to decide their fate. Would death be quick and painless? Or would it be a drawn-out, gruesome affair? Knowing the captain's proclivities, probably the latter.

Everyone was deathly silent. The only noise to be heard was the whirring of the equipment and the quiet beeping of some of the machines. Shachi wasn't even making the wet, gurgling noises any more, which should have posed a concern—had he actually died? Certainly Kira hadn't actually killed him this time? The implication of his silence might have crossed the minds of those in the room, had they not been worried about their own impending demise. It would take a miracle for the Captain not to massacre them all because the fact was: he was pissed and cranky. He was exhausted. He needed more sleep. And he did not appreciate being woken up in such a noisy manner.

The Surgeon of Death looked around the room, taking in each of the faces there; Law almost snorted at his crew's antics. Kira, who was switching between glaring at the lump on the floor and trying to placate him, was standing stock still to his right (though he could tell that she badly wanted to continue her previous activity by the way her fist kept twitching), while Shachi, the lump on the ground next to her, was doing his best not to shrink away from his angry gaze as he cupped his lower extremities. He had ceased the obnoxious (and unhealthy sounding) gurgling noise under his captain's glare. No need to annoy the captain further. Kira certainly didn't hold back her punches.

Shifting his stare to the left, he took in the sight of Penguin and Bepo trying to make themselves as unnoticeable as possible behind a fearful dancer. However, that wasn't working out too well for them—Bepo was a huge polar bear and the dancer was quite small in comparison to him. Really? This was the best they could do? Apparently they didn't fear him enough.

The Surgeon of Death inwardly sighed. He couldn't get rid of his crew since that would put him at a disadvantage. Well, he conceded, at least they kept things interesting.

Moving to look at the last person in the room, Law was aware that she suppressed jumping as his eyes met hers. She looked to be feeling a great deal better today. A part of him felt relieved at that, which was something that needed to be analyzed and tested later. For now he had a different issue to address.

His usual grin returned to his face (possibly to reassure the terrified looking brunette before him) as he addressed his crew in a low and even voice, showing them that he still meant business. "I suggest that the next time you decide to have an argument, you do it in a manner that does not allow me to hear it from the other end of the sub… while I am sleeping." He ended with a finality that spoke volumes as he flashed a deadly grin to the two who had caused the commotion.

"Now then," Law's laid back demeanor returned, causing everyone to release a collective sigh of relief.

Crisis averted… for now.

"Penguin."

"A—Aye, Captain!"

Deciding not to comment on the fact that said crewman replied in an octave higher than probably intended, the sleep deprived doctor continued, "When will we be ready to breach water?"

"At your order, Captain," his response was calmer now that death no longer loomed over his shoulders.

"Make sure that there are no immediate threats above and then resurface."

"Aye!" As Penguin headed for one of the many consoles in the room, he barked out orders for Bepo to check the periscope for potential threats and for Shachi to check the sonar. When he received the 'all clear' from both of his crewmates, he informed everyone that they would drive to the surface.

"Be sure to hold onto something, it might be a little bumpy." Law startled Yumei when he whispered into her ear. She hadn't realized that he had gotten so close. She couldn't help but blush at the proximity between them. If he were any closer, he would be on top of her.

Grabbing the ear that he intimately whispered into, Yumei turned on him, irritated. The pink hue on her cheeks was still prominent, which made the doctor grin wider. He could tell that he was making her uncomfortable, which was good because that was his goal after all. So, to further her discomfort and possibly to make her blush a deeper red, Law put his arm around her waist and pulled her flush against his bare chest—he hadn't bothered to put a shirt on when he came to scold his crew for disturbing his sleep. This tactic seemed to work as she definitely looked uncomfortable and not only were her cheeks red now, but her whole face was as well. He felt accomplished as he held the blushing dancer tight to his chest while holding onto one of the bars on the wall to keep his balance as they resurfaced.

Not far off, Kira, who decided that she would hold onto Penguin as they experienced the minor turbulence of breaching the surface of the water, grinned mischievously at her captain and the woman in his arms, silently vowing that she would do whatever it took to get the dancer to be a part of the crew. It would be nice to have another girl around. And the captain looked more than satisfied to have her in his embrace.

As soon as they surfaced, Bepo was the first out of the room, heading straight for the door leading to the outside deck. Shachi and Penguin went out after him—Shachi mostly recovered from the previous altercation.

Forcibly removing herself from Law's grasp, Yumei followed after Shachi and Penguin. Taking deep breaths to calm herself down.

"You know, Captain, she's not that bad," Kira started as she fell in step with her captain, who had a smirk on his face, as he left the room. He didn't comment, so she went on. "She can cook better than all of us combined… She's pretty…"

"If you're hinting at what I think you are Kiramai, don't bother," Law responded nonchalantly.

She sighed. "Fine… But don't try to deny that she's different." Puffing out her cheeks in annoyance, Kira walked ahead of her captain and stepped out on deck.

0*0*0*0

As she stepped onto the deck, Yumei took a deep breath and inhaled the briny air. It had only been several days, but it had felt like forever since she had last felt the sun touch her skin and had tasted the salty air. She rested her hands on the railing and looked out at the vast horizon, taking the beauty of the ocean. Briefly, she let herself contemplate jumping overboard and swimming to land to escape the Dark Doctor, before she remembered that she had several fractured ribs and realized that there was no land in sight. They were completely surrounded by the sea.

Sighing, she leaned forward and rested her head on one of her hands, her elbows on the railing. Turning her head, she noticed that Kira had disappeared from deck while Penguin and Shachi carried out a table and some chairs. Bepo began swabbing the deck in an attempt to rid it of any algae that may have clung to the wood from their underwater voyage.

"Jumping overboard won't do you any good, you know," Law said as he leaned on the railing next to Yumei.

She didn't look at him. "Who said that is what I was going to do that?"

"It's obvious from the look in your eyes. Though you have seemed to have realized it too."

"Realized what?"

He smirked at her. "That you're stuck here with us. No land in sight. And swimming wouldn't be the best activity for someone with fractured ribs."

Before she could reply, Penguin ran over after having set up the table and chairs with Shachi. "Hey, Yumei-chan! Why don't we have breakfast on deck? It's really nice out today."

"Ooo! That's a good idea Pengi-pi!" Kira chortled as she returned to deck wearing a clean white t-shirt (which for her meant one with minimal grease and oil stains on it) and a pair of shorts.

Penguin turned to look at Kira, and without even intending to, his gaze followed her form down to her slim, bare legs where it lingered for a few seconds too long. Though Kira didn't notice, Yumei and the captain did, especially as a noticeable blush began to burn the man's face.

"Y-yeah…" he stuttered, looking away from the girl who so obviously declared to be in love with him. Law softly snorted at his reaction, much to Penguin's chagrin, which made his face burn brighter.

Yumei suppressed a small grin at their antics with a cough behind a delicate fist. Moving away from the railing she said, "I'll go prepare breakfast then…" No one offered to help her do so, but she didn't mind. Their last attempt at cooking hadn't even appeared to be anything resembling food. And of course, there had been the bloodbath afterwards. She shivered at the thought. She didn't care to experience any of that again, so she would be just fine on her own.

As she made her way back inside of the submarine, Yumei heard Kira say, "Where're ya going, Captain? Aren't you going to relax out here with us while we wait for Yumei-nee to make breakfast?" Yumei's step faltered at this, but she didn't let herself stop or turn around to confirm her fear. There was no reason for the Dark Doctor to follow her, alone, in the sub, and she just kept telling herself that.

"No, I'm going back to bed. I did not get the appropriate amount of sleep since _certain individuals_ decided to oh-so-rudely wake me up." At those words, the _certain individuals _he spoke of tensed up and did not grace him with a reply, which is how he wanted it since he didn't want to waste any more energy on them before he had gotten more sleep.

Contrary to their reaction, the dancer-turned-cook let out a sigh of relief at his answer. If he was going back to bed, then he wouldn't be bothering her. She didn't want to be near him. He instilled confusing and terrifying feelings in her that she didn't like—she didn't know what they meant and she wasn't sure she wanted to.

However, Yumei relaxed too soon, for moments after he had said that he came up behind her and invaded her personal space to whisper in her ear, "And of course, I _would_ have slept last night, but _someone_ kicked me out of my own bed…"

Instead of gracing the Surgeon of Death with any kind of verbal reply, the dancer bit the inside of her check and quickly rushed away from him to the kitchen. Law chuckled at her reaction and returned to his room. The urge to follow his temporary cook into the galley and have some more fun harassing her was strong, but his urge to sleep was stronger—he was seriously exhausted. He hadn't gone to bed until late last night since the woman refused to try to sleep with him in the room, then she had woke him up an hour or so later with the nightmare. It had taken him at least an hour to get her to calm down and then go to sleep and even then, he had stayed awake for a little while after. Sighing, Law collapsed onto his bed and fell asleep, hopefully this time, he would go undisturbed.

*0*0*0*0

Yumei hummed to herself as she prepared the crew's breakfast. She made fish for Bepo, to hopefully deter him from catching onto her, and pancakes with bacon and eggs for everyone else. She wondered if she should set something aside for Law. It _was_ technically her fault that he hadn't gotten enough sleep last night… She felt a blush creep up her neck at the thought of waking up next to him this morning. His smooth, hard, tattooed chest… She shook her head and scowled. She shouldn't let him affect her like that! Even if he was the first partially clothed man she had been almost willingly close to…

Once again biting the inside of her cheek, Yumei finished breakfast, making sure to set some aside for Law-she would take it to him later.

0*0*0*0

Yumei had a nice breakfast with the crew. The breeze was refreshing and there were minimal incidents between the two warring crew members. She still didn't socialize with them much—she chose to sit back and just watch their interactions. Kira and Shachi would occasionally bicker before Penguin would attempt to soothe the two. Bepo always seemed to slip some kind of comment about bears in, which led to the others yelling at him before he would apologize. The conversation would take a more sedate turn before the cycle would start all over again.

Though she still wasn't comfortable with them and didn't really trust them, she had to admit that she was a bit envious of them. They were, what she imagined, a family would be like. There was a time that she had longed for that kind of interaction—it felt beyond her now though. She didn't feel that she could ever trust anyone again with the way things had gone for her in the past. Her boss hadn't been the only person to betray her. It had happened countless times before. She wondered why she was still alive if she was just going to be on her own for the rest of her life. What was the point in living if there was nothing to look forward to in life? On that sober thought, Yumei stood up and began clearing the dirty dishes from the table. She didn't need to let herself sit there and yearn for what she could never have.

"Oh! You cooked Yumei-nee! You don't need to do that!" Kira said to her when she noticed the dancer begin to pick up some of the used dishes.

Yumei turned on her with an empty smile, "Don't worry about it. It is my temporary duty anyway."

The young mechanic was at a loss for words when she saw the woman's melancholy expression. It reminded her of how she used to feel before she joined the crew after her father had died. She didn't know what to say, so she let the dancer carry on with what she was doing.

0*0*0*0

Yumei tried not to think too much as she did the dishes. She just needed to focus on the task at hand and get through her stay here. She could do this. She was a survivor, after all, and she had survived situations tougher than stowing away on a pirate ship with a sadistic doctor for a captain.

Yumei sighed as she finished the last dish and went to put it away. Now that her current task was finished, she had to steel herself for another afternoon of trying to avoid the crew and their prying questions. Turning to leave the now clean kitchen with the intention of finding a quiet place to hide until it was time for her to prepare lunch, the dancer spied the dish she had set aside earlier on the counter. She supposed she should see if the doctor was awake yet and if he wanted to eat.

Standing outside a metal door with a tray of food in hand, the temporary cook gathered up her courage to face the Dark Doctor once more. She didn't knock, as she didn't want to wake Law if he were still sleeping. Instead, she opened the door as quietly as possible and peeked her head in. She sighed in relief when she noticed his lax form on the bed. He was still asleep and for that she was grateful—she wasn't sure she wanted to face him again, alone, in his room.

Quietly making her way into the deemed "safe" room, Yumei looked for a good spot to set the tray of food for the sub's captain. She supposed that his bedside table being less cluttered than his desk with medical notes and journals would be as good a place as any if she intended for him to see it upon waking up.

Yumei glanced at Law's sleeping face as she put the tray on the night stand. He really wasn't so intimidating this way. Crouching down next to the bed so she could study his face better, the dancer brushed a stray lock of hair from the sleeping pirate's face. She supposed he was just the type of guy most girls would fall for and die to have an affair with—he was handsome and dangerous and even a little mysterious. His gaze held adventure—whether it be your death or pleasure. She blushed at that thought. But she wasn't most girls—even if she wished she could be, even if only for a little while.

Sighing for what seemed to be the thousandth time that morning, the brunette stood up and tried to quell her blush. She should really stop ogling the Dark Doctor and thinking about things she couldn't change. She needed to focus on her plan of escape, whether it be while they were still at sea or when they came to an island because Yumei had a feeling that Trafalgar Law was not the type of man to just let someone leave his ship when he had found a use for them.

0*0*0*0

"Yumei-nee! Enough cleaning! Come fishing wi..th… us…" Kira trailed off as she realized that Yumei was not in the kitchen. Though, she had obviously been there at one point since the counters were clean and the dishes put away. "Hmm… Where could she be?" Shrugging, the pigtailed mechanic went to check the dancer-turned-cook's room.

Unable to find her there either, the blonde wondered where else the older woman would possibly go. Prepared to just give up and leave the dancer to herself, Kira spotted the particular person on her mind… sneaking out of the captain's room… with a blush on her face. A big grin spread across the girl's face. Well she certainly wouldn't have thought to look there for her. '_Oh this will be fun_,' she thought to herself.

Attempting (and not completely failing) at hiding her amusement, Kira called out to the brunette as she tried to make a hasty get away from the Heart Pirate captain's room. "Oh, Yumei-nee! There you are! What are you doing by the captain's room?"

Yumei, startled half-to-death, jumped at least two and a half feet in the air at the younger woman's call. "N-nothing…" She stuttered nervously and cautiously turned around, gripping her rapidly beating heart, to face the girl. Yumei found herself blushing a little harder at the blonde's innocuous question. Really, why was she sweating so much? It wasn't like she had been doing anything wrong… She had just been taking the doctor food for when he woke up since it was her fault he didn't much sleep much to begin with…

Kira inwardly laughed at the dancer's nervousness. She wouldn't even make eye contact with her. It was kind of cute. No wonder the captain had so much fun harassing her. She knew the dancer could handle her captain too—if only she weren't so jittery and uncomfortable around him. They would have to work on that. "Didja wanna fish with us on deck?"

Still unnerved, Yumei nodded a 'yes' without really thinking.

Pleased with her answer, Kira grabbed Yumei's hand and proceeded to drag her toward the deck for, apparently, fishing and some much needed fresh air.

Kira grinned as she stepped on deck with the dancer in tow, leading her to the lower deck at the rear of the submarine. Mission success! It was actually pretty easy to get the dancer to agree to join them when she was distracted. She wasn't about to let their (currently) temporary member brood by herself all afternoon. She needed to get comfortable with everyone if she was going to be a permanent member, after all!

"What're you so happy about?" Shachi accused.

"Nothing~" She sang back to him. Not even Shachi was going to ruin her good mood.

Perturbed by her chipper reply, the ginger-haired pirate turned back toward his fishing pole and grumbled to himself—something about creepy blonde pipsqueaks planning something suspicious.

Kira chose to ignore his insult as she strolled past him to lean against the railing by Penguin. She motioned for Yumei to take up a spot next to her. Penguin, who was perched on the railing and already focused on fishing, looked over at their approach. "Catch anything yet?" Kira asked, smiling at him.

"N-no…" Penguin turned back toward the sea, hopefully, before she noticed the blush starting to burn on his cheeks. All because of a smile… Clearing his throat, he tried for a more steady voice when he spoke to her. "Bepo has though," he said just as a fish came sailing through the air from the water below and onto a growing pile of fish on the deck. Looking over the side of the sub, Kira and Yumei saw that Bepo was indeed catching quite a few fish as he threw another sizable catch up onto the deck. He looked to be enjoying it too. Though one couldn't blame him. While summers in the North Blue weren't exactly hot, it did get pretty warm especially for the furry native, so swimming was a nice way to cool down.

"Leave some fish for us!" Kira shouted at her crew member in the water. She chuckled when she heard him utter a 'sorry' before he dived back underwater. Grabbing the extra fishing poles leaning against the railing, Kira handed one to Yumei. "Here ya go! Be careful not to hook Bepo though…"

The dancer took the fishing pole, but wasn't really sure what to do with it. She had never used one before. Kira was the first to notice Yumei just staring at the fishing pole. "Yumei-nee, what are you doing?"

"Don't tell me you don't know how to use a fishing pole," Shachi called over to her.

"I've never used one before," she admitted to them.

"What? How have you never fished before!?" The three Heart Pirates on deck exclaimed. Yumei just sweat dropped in response. Admittedly, she had fished before. Just not with a fishing pole… She did it in a similar fashion to Bepo… Not that she would tell them that.

0*0*0*0

"You suck at fishing," was Shachi's keen observation after they spent an hour trying to teach Yumei how to fish. She had to agree with him. She had never been good at fishing.

**A/N: How do you feel about the Kira/Penguin couple? I have some later side chapters planned for them. What do you think? Lemme know!**


End file.
